State elections board to review disputed November early voting plans
County boards from across North Carolina are expected to present early voting plans that were not unanimously adopted locally.
RALEIGH — The State Board of Elections will meet Thursday to consider early voting plans for the November general election that were not unanimously adopted by county boards of elections.
The in-person meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 20 at the State Board offices in the Dobbs Building in Raleigh, according to a meeting notice posted Friday. The board said members of the public may attend in person, watch online or listen by phone.
The tentative agenda includes campaign finance penalty waiver requests, county board member vacancy appointments and two rounds of early voting plan reviews under state law.
The first set of early voting plans involves counties where board members differed only on dates or times. County board members are expected to present in the following order: Union, Rowan, Anson, Craven, Rockingham, Greene, Wayne, Harnett, Lee, Nash, Chatham and Scotland.
After a closed session, the State Board expects to resume open session at 1 p.m. to consider plans from counties that differ on locations or differ on both locations and dates or times. Those counties are expected to be heard in this order: Jackson, Pasquotank, Guilford, Pitt, Lenoir, Cumberland, Granville and Columbus.
The agenda also includes a declaratory ruling request involving a candidate name on the ballot and initial consideration of board member complaints involving Anson and Cumberland counties.
Early voting plans can determine where and when voters may cast ballots before Election Day. When county boards cannot unanimously agree on a plan, state law gives the State Board authority to review and decide the matter.
The meeting comes as county and state elections officials prepare for the November general election.
Editor’s note:
This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.
