State elections board to review disputed November early voting plans

The board’s Aug. 20 agenda includes early voting plans from counties where local election boards did not unanimously agree.

RALEIGH — The North Carolina State Board of Elections is scheduled to meet Thursday to review early voting plans for the November general election that were not unanimously adopted by county boards of elections.

The in-person meeting is set for 9 a.m. at the State Board of Elections office in Raleigh, with online and phone access available for the public, according to the board’s meeting notice.

The agenda divides the early voting disputes into two groups. The first includes counties where plans differ 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 board expects to resume open session at 1 p.m. to consider counties where plans differ on locations or on both locations and dates or times. Those counties are Jackson, Pasquotank, Guilford, Pitt, Lenoir, Cumberland, Granville and Columbus.

Under state law, county boards submit early voting plans for State Board approval when local members do not unanimously agree. The process determines early voting schedules and sites before the November general election.

The agenda also includes an executive director’s report, campaign finance penalty waiver requests, county board member vacancy appointments, a declaratory ruling request related to a candidate name on the ballot, and initial consideration of board member complaints involving Anson and Cumberland counties.

Meeting materials are being posted to the State Board’s meeting folder as they become available.

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.