By Jordan Meadows
Staff Writer
The North Carolina State Board of Elections approved changes to early voting plans in 20 counties Thursday morning after a contentious meeting that lasted more than 10 hours, with the role of the Republican-controlled state auditor’s office dominating much of the proceedings.
The meeting came after election boards in 20 counties failed to reach unanimous agreements on their early voting schedules for this November’s elections. Under state law, each county must provide early voting during business hours as well as on the Saturday immediately preceding Election Day.
The state board was tasked with resolving the remaining disagreements, with representatives from each county presenting majority and minority proposals before the five-member state board discussed and voted on the plans.
The counties before the state board were Union, Rowan, Anson, Craven, Rockingham, Greene, Wayne, Harnett, Lee, Nash, Chatham, Scotland, Jackson, Pasquotank, Guilford, Pitt, Lenoir, Cumberland, Granville and Columbus. The other 80 counties had reached unanimous agreements on their early voting plans and therefore did not have to appear before the state board.
The most contentious issue was whether counties should offer early voting on Sundays.
Republican members of several county boards argued that Sunday turnout was too low to justify opening polling sites and that the day should be reserved for church and family. Democratic members and voting-rights advocates argued that Sunday voting is an important option for people who work long or irregular hours, have lengthy commutes or have caregiving responsibilities. They also noted that some religious traditions observe Saturday as a day of rest, making Sunday an especially important alternative.
The debate became particularly heated during discussion of Anson County’s plan.
Matthew Longworth, a Republican member of the Anson County Board of Elections, argued against Sunday voting in part because election workers would be required to work on Sunday.
“By having Sunday voting, we are requiring people to work on the Lord’s day,” Longworth said. “I do believe that the downfall of this country will be contingent on what we do with God.”
Longworth also compared the lack of Sunday operations at polling places to Chick-fil-A’s traditional Sunday closure, saying that if the restaurant could close on Sundays, polling places could do the same.
The board also considered disputes over early voting locations, including locations on university campuses and in smaller communities.
In Columbus County, the Republican-backed plan called for eliminating the early voting site in Fair Bluff. The state board ultimately voted in the afternoon to reinstate the Fair Bluff site.
Several Columbus County residents traveled to Raleigh and gathered outside the State Board of Elections building during a break in the meeting to oppose changes to their local early voting plan.
Alon Zastephens, a Columbus County resident, said the group came to the meeting in an effort to prevent polling places from being closed.
“Today we have come to the Electoral Board meeting to try to convince them not to close any of our polling stations,” Zastephens said.
A protest also took place at Halifax Mall in Raleigh while the state board was hearing testimony and voting on the county plans. Protesters and voting-rights advocates gathered as the lengthy meeting continued inside the nearby elections building, adding a public demonstration to the growing criticism surrounding the early voting decisions.
Members of nonpartisan organizations, including Common Cause, also gathered outside the State Board of Elections building to express concerns about the consequences of the decisions. Dawn Blagrove, an attorney and executive director of Emancipate NC, said voters should not have to fight for basic opportunities to cast ballots.
“We shouldn’t have to hold an all-day meeting to decide whether or not to do something that is pure common sense: simply make voting easier, expand access, and provide more opportunities for people to vote,” Blagrove said.
Marcus Thompson, organizing director for Democracy NC and a Pitt County resident, also criticized restrictions on Sunday voting in his county.
“During many elections, I’ve stood alongside young African Americans and Latinos, progressives, and people of all kinds in that county, fighting for Sunday voting; and in the past, it has paid off.”
Sixteen of the 20 counties before the state board voted for Donald Trump for president in 2024, but only eight supported Republican Mark Robinson for governor.
Dawn Blagrove argued that the disputes over early voting should also be viewed in the context of racial and socioeconomic disparities in access to elections. She said that reducing voting hours, eliminating voting days or removing convenient polling places can disproportionately affect African American and other voters of color, low-income residents and students.
“If you are unclear about what systemic and institutional racism means in the context of voting rights, you only need to look at what is happening today in Raleigh,” Blagrove said.
State Board Democratic member Siobhan Millen introduced a motion that would have barred state board members from working with the auditor’s office on matters that favor a particular candidate, political party, or demographic group.
Millen said the state board needed to determine whether the disputed voting plans were genuinely the product of local election boards or whether they were part of a coordinated effort that could benefit one political party.
The motion failed on a 3-2 party-line vote, with the Republican majority opposing it.
State Board Republican Chair Francis De Luca said board members should be permitted to consider input from public officials, advocacy groups and political organizations before making their own independent decisions.
The dispute repeatedly returned to Dallas Woodhouse, a former executive director of the North Carolina Republican Party who was hired by Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek as an elections liaison. Reports based on emails and text messages uncovered during the controversy showed Woodhouse and other auditor’s office staff communicating with county election officials about where and when to hold early voting. Woodhouse resigned from the auditor’s office in July amid the controversy.
The 20 counties that came before the state board Thursday represented the largest number of county early voting plans divided along partisan lines since the 2016 general election.
The final decisions mean that voters in the 20 counties will have different opportunities to vote early this fall depending on where they live. For some voters, that will mean fewer weekend options, including no Sunday voting, while other counties retain or add Sunday hours.
