BY EVEY WEISBLAT, staff writer Aug 26, 2022 Updated Aug 26, 2022
With time closing in on the Nov. 8 general election, the Moore County Board of Elections has released a plan for early voting.
Early voting, also known as one-stop voting, will begin on Thursday, Oct. 20 and end on Saturday, Nov. 5.
Weekend early voting is limited to two Saturdays, Oct. 29 and Nov. 5, and one Sunday, Oct. 23.
During the weekdays, early voting will run from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. During the two Saturdays, polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. On Sunday, Oct. 23, polls will be open from 1 to 4 p.m.
One-stop voting will be available at two sites throughout the county: the Moore County Agriculture Center, 707 Pinehurst Ave. in Carthage, and the Pinehurst Community Center, 210 Rattlesnake Trail.
Towanna Dixon, director of the county Board of Elections, said same-day registration is available for those who choose to cast their ballot during the one-stop period. Otherwise, the last day to register to vote is Oct. 14. Moreover, absentee ballots will be available by mail on Sept. 9, and the last day to request an absentee ballot is Nov. 1 at 5 p.m.
County boards of elections across the state have been battling mistrust in the aftermath of the 2020 election, during which unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud were widespread. Dixon said that, while she hasn’t been approached by anyone claiming election fraud, the board has been dealing with an unprecedented number of records requests.
Dixon said she has received requests from four individuals asking for a host of records relating to the 2020 general election. The requests, she said, are asking for information about individual ballots, which are treated as confidential in the state of North Carolina. It is illegal to share that information outside of a court order.
“North Carolina doesn’t do anything with that type of records because your ballot is confidential. We don’t give that type of information out,” Dixon said. “And I don’t think the people that were requesting it understood that aspect of it.”
A lot of these requests, Dixon said, are for cast vote records. She said these are scans of ballots implemented by ElectionWare, an election program, to tabulate votes. Not only are these records illegal to disperse, but they’re also not something the Moore County Board of Elections possesses.
“So for us, we don’t have that type of equipment to do it,” Dixon said. “That’s a higher scale model.”
Dixon said she has not heard anyone calling in over outright voter fraud allegations in Moore County.
“I think a lot of times they feel like, is their vote really going to count? And I’m just like, ‘Yes, it’s going to count. If you go to the precinct and you see everything that’s taking place, your vote’s going to count.”
Dixon encourages people to reach out to the Board of Elections first if they have concerns at (910) 947-3868 or elections@moorecountync.gov
A list of the general election candidates, along with voter registration forms, can be found on the Moore County Board of Election website.
Contact Evey Weisblat at (910) 692-7271 or evey@thepilot.com