By Ana Risano | Managing Editor
Early voting is set to start this month with the Moore County Board of Elections working out the final details.
Early voting begins Oct. 15 and runs through Oct. 31 with hours Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.. There will be three Saturday opportunities — Oct. 17, 24 and 31 — that will run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
This year, Moore County will have three early voting sites ahead of the Nov. 3 election: Vass Town Hall, 140 S. Alma St.; Moore County Agricultural Center, 707 Pinehurst Ave. in Carthage; and the Aberdeen Parks and Recreation Center, 301 Lake Park Crossing, Aberdeen.
“My Aberdeen site and my Carthage sites are always good sites to work with,” Moore County Board of Elections Director Towanna Dixon said. “My Vass site is a little difficult right now.”
Dixon explained every site has the opportunity to deny the board of elections’ request for use. When the county sent a letter several months ago asking for permission to use Vass Town Hall, it never heard back. That’s in part because of turnover in the Vass government, Dixon explained.
“Even though the town met on it, they never gave a response back. And since they didn’t give a response back, it’s automatically assumed that we can use it,” Dixon said.
Right now, she said the focus is on making sure the early voting site has a good layout. A problem with the site is that no polling tents are allowed due to limited space. Dixon said she plans to identify a more suitable space for future early voting periods.
Other preparations for early voting include finalizing the computers to be used at each site, staffing schedules and ensuring the right supplies are ready for each site. Starting Monday, set up will begin at each site.
Dixon also responded to two concerns for some voters impacted by the “voter registration repair project” or by being “legacy” voters. That refers to people registered before 2002, when the state board went digital and not all of the information was captured. In short, she said neither impacts a person’s ability to vote, but the state wants updated information like a driver’s license or a person’s social security number.
“It’s not going to affect them when they come in to vote, so I don’t want anyone to be nervous or feel like they can’t come to vote,” Dixon said. “That’s not the case.”
According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, all voters will be allowed to vote with or without photo ID. But, voters without identification are required to either fill out an exception form and a provisional ballot, or vote with a provisional ballot and return to the county board of elections office with their photo ID by the day before votes are tallied.
Acceptable photo IDs include a North Carolina driver’s license, U.S. passport, military or veteran ID, a tribal enrollment card or another identification card issued by a U.S. government or N.C. state agency for a public assistance program.
Moore County residents can also obtain a free ID card, different from a driver license, through the DMV. More information can be found at www.ncdot.gov/dmv/license-id/. The Board of Elections office in Carthage also has a voter ID machine that can print cards for people.
The Moore County Board of Elections Office is located at 700 Pinehurst Ave., Carthage. It can be contacted by phone at (910) 947-3868 or by email at elections@moorecountync.gov.
