Press Release
Board Of Elections Needs to Plan Now To Avoid Disenfranchising Voters
June 8, 2020
New Hanover County, NC: Tomorrow's Board of Elections meeting is critical to avoiding the disenfranchisement of voters in November that plagued recent elections in Wisconsin, Ohio, District of Columbia, Maryland and elsewhere. The Board of Elections Meeting is scheduled at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Board of Elections office, 230 Government Center Drive, Wilmington, N.C.
This November's national election may be the most critical of our lifetimes, and it is happening at a time when the coronavirus pandemic may make voting in person unsafe. The safest way to vote in this pandemic is to vote by mail. However, jurisdictions which saw large increases in voting by mail in recent elections unintentionally disenfranchised tens of thousands of voters who attempted to vote by mail. The New Hanover County Board of Elections is now beginning the planning necessary to help New Hanover voters avoid the same fate.
The Board's Planning must take into account at least the following three factors to ensure that voting by mail lives up to its potential:
Resources: Karen Brinson Bell, Director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, has predicted a ten fold increase in vote-by-mail ballots. Wisconsin election officials recently faced a fifteen fold increase. Managing this increase along with all the other necessary changes will be challenging. A tenfold increase in ballots may necessitate a tenfold increase in staffing for absentee ballot processing, and a fifteen fold increase even more so. In addition to staffing increases, processing them will require additional office space, ballot envelopes, possible new technologies and other resources. Add to that the challenge of recruiting for a surge of elections staff for absentee ballot processing at the same time that the Board of Elections is recruiting staff, and buying masks, plexiglass shields, gloves and hand sanitizer for in-person polling places. Additional federal funds may help to offset these additional costs, but it is not clear that they will be sufficient
Mail Delays: The Postal Service issued guidance that voters and elections staff should expect an application for absentee ballot to take at least a week to reach the board of elections, an absentee ballot will take at least a week to reach a voter, and a ballot mailed by a voter will take at least a week to reach the elections board. You can read about the USPS guidance here. The Board of Elections likely can't speed up mail times, but it can help set expectations by encouraging early submission, and by encouraging voters to pick up applications and drop off ballots at the Board of Elections Office in October.
Unrealistic Voter Guidance: The guidance provided in the absentee ballot instructions states that ballot requests received on the Tuesday before Election Day will be processed. See the instructions here (page 2). In this election that deadline would fall on October 27, and many voters who submit an application by the deadline will likely not be able to return their ballot to the Board of Elections in time to have it counted.
A bill intended to improve and streamline NC voting by mail is now before the Senate Appropriations Committee. Senator Harper Peterson predicts that it may reach the Senate floor this week. While the bill is necessary and appropriate, it won't fundamentally change the three factors listed above, nor will it prevent likely disenfranchisement of New Hanover voters.
Solutions: The Board of Elections should consider at least the following possible solutions:
Resources- The Board of Elections should ensure adequate staffing, office space and other resources necessary for a ten to fifteen fold increase in voting by mail. They should explore whether technological solutions may speed processing time. And the Board should seek additional funding if necessary to meet this and other 2020 challenges.
Messaging- The Board of Elections should emphasize that voters who want to take advantage of the safest and most convenient form of voting should begin by applying for an absentee ballot now. Voters who want to apply for a ballot by mail can download the application form here or pick one up at the Board of Elections. Voters who wait till September or later to apply for a ballot by mail should be warned about the mail delays and possible application processing delays. Voters should be told that if they rely on the October 27 deadline to submit their application for a ballot will likely lose their vote. Finally, last minute absentee voters should be encouraged to drop their ballots off at the Board of Elections because of expected mail delays.
New Hanover County Democratic Party Chair Richard Poole will be available for comment following the meeting.
Contact: Richard Poole, 910 508-3537.
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| Paid for by the New Hanover County Democratic Party |
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Mailing Address:
NHCDP
PO Box 3036
Wilmington, NC 28406
Office Address:
5041 New Centre Drive
Wilmington, NC 28403
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