By ELENA MARSH
Staff Writer
The Moore County Board of Elections received overall positive responses to a short survey released in mid-April asking voters about their experience voting in the general election last November. In about 10 questions, elections staff gathered information regarding quality of service from poll workers and areas of improvement when disseminating election information.
The survey, published on the Board of Elections website and Facebook page, gained more than 230 responses at the end of the voting period on May 2. Of those, 80 percent of respondents said they had positive interactions with poll workers.
Complaints on conduct were mostly directed to the electioneers in the tents outside.
Outside of the designated buffer zone, campaigners and electioneers may set up their signage and tents anywhere. The buffer zone is defined by the North Carolina Board of Elections as the designated area outside of the voting place that is between 25 and 50 feet from the door of the entrance to the voting place.
About five responses from early voters at the Aberdeen site, for instance, said that the political candidate tents along the sidewalk were intrusive when the line stopped in front of them. However, since the tents were outside of the buffer zone, the Board of Elections did not have the ability to ask them to move.
Another common complaint was the lack of early voting sites. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Moore County set up four early voting sites instead of two. Before the 2020 election, Moore County only had two early voting locations.
As Moore County grows, it is still uncertain whether more than two locations for early voting could be used. This year, the early voting period ran from Oct. 17 to Nov. 2 and was open for 11 hours Monday through Friday, 6 hours on Saturday and 5 hours on Sunday.
The most common comments were that the staff was great, the line moved along quickly, the poll workers were nonpartisan, and voter aid ran smoothly.
“This is just a few of the comments that were received,” said Elections Director Towanna Dixon. “Some comments needed voter education, logistic training or had nothing to do with the Board of Elections. Others will be investigated, and we will come up with solutions. However, every solution will not please everyone, but it will make it bearable.”
Contact Elena Marsh at (910)693-2484 or elena@thepilot.com.
