Pasquotank residents planning to vote early in the Nov. 5 general election may be casting their ballots at just one location, instead of choosing between the two sites announced last month.
The Pasquotank Board of Elections voted unanimously Monday to petition the state Board of Elections to allow election officials to conduct early voting at one location, the K.E. White Graduate Center. The vote comes about a month after the State Board of Elections ruled that the local board must provide two locations for early voting, which starts Oct. 17.
On Monday, the local elections board met for 90 minutes to discuss a plan to utilize the K.E. White Center as the sole location for early voting.
George Hague, one of two Republicans on the local election board, was the first to express support for a single early voting site, citing difficulties associated with the elections office’s staff managing two early voting sites. He also emphasized the recent announcement by Pasquotank Elections Director Emma Tate that she’s resigning. Tate’s last day as elections director is scheduled to be Aug. 16.
The board’s discussion also centered around early voting security at the K.E. White center.
“I want people to know that we have taken measures appropriate to make sure that only voters and us are inside that room voting and (we) are not going to have any incursion from unaware staff or students or anybody else,” said Larry Beatty, the board’s other Republican member.
“Let’s just make it safe,” Beatty said. “The times are kind of scary right now and I would rather err in doing a little more, and saying, ‘Look, we did this, this and this and short of welding the doors shut, we can’t make it any safer.’”
Tate said it is rare for ECSU workers and other non-voting affiliated people to enter the K.E. White banquet hall while voting is underway.
“The janitor used to come in and then we had a complaint about that, so the janitor’s not coming in,” she said.
Jacquelyn Brown, a Democrat and board chairwoman, said the board cannot impose any restrictions to prevent ECSU employees from working in the White Center during early voting.
“For 17 days we can’t tell people they can’t go to work,” she said.
Hague then asked if the elections board could “get a list” of ECSU personnel “going in and out of that building.”
“George!” Brown responded.
“It’s a presidential election,” Hague replied.
“It’s a presidential election and I can’t go along with that,” Brown said. “I’m sorry. You want us to get a list of people to sign in and out that go to work there?”
“It should only be about three to four people, right?” he replied.
Hague next suggested an alternative to his initial idea that would designate one door to be manned by a poll worker who would check workers in and out of the building.
“Are these questions that your party is concerned about?” Brown asked him.
“That people are concerned about,” Hague responded.
Board member Addie Griffin, a Democrat, noted that whatever requests the board asks of ECSU it would also have to be made at each of the county’s election precincts on Nov. 5. At least four election day voting sites are at schools and two are at churches.
“I agree,” said Brown.
Tate then read the petition aloud before presenting it to the board members for their signatures.
Also Monday, the board directed Tate to contact ECSU to ask if the university would temporarily rekey one of the door locks to a storage room or other available space in K.E. White. The secured space would be used to store sensitive voting equipment overnight.
Tate said that when early voting was held at K.E. White in the past, she and her staff carried the top section of the tabulator machines and ballots back to the elections office for safe storing till the next day.
In June, the State Board of Elections ruled that the local elections board must provide two locations for early voting: the K.E. White Center at 1862 Edgewood Drive and the local board’s office at 1409 Parkview Drive. The two sites are located within about a mile of each other.
According to the state’s ruling, Pasquotank must provide two early voting locations after the county elections board split 3-2 over where to conduct early voting for the Nov. 5 election. The board’s three Democrats — Brown, Griffin and Michele Aydlett — wanted to hold early voting at the K.E. White Center. The board’s two Republicans — Hague and Deborah Hurdle — thought early voting should be held at the Board of Elections office. Hurdle is no longer on the board and has since been replaced by Beatty.
The board holds a Democratic majority because under state law the party of the sitting governor, in this instance Democrat Roy Cooper, gets one more seat than that opposition party on both the state and local elections boards.
If the state approves the local board’s petition, early voting in Pasquotank County will only be conducted at the K.E. White Center, starting Thursday Oct. 17 and continue for another 16 days till Saturday, Nov. 2. Voting hours will be 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on weekdays, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on three Saturdays — Oct. 19, Oct. 26 and Nov. 2. There also will be one day of early voting on a Sunday: Oct. 20 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
In the past several elections, including 2020 and 2022, early voting was conducted at K.E. White, which is part of the Elizabeth City State University campus.
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