03/27/2024
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By: Cheryl Thurston

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The Bladen County Board of Elections held a meeting in Bladenboro on Thursday night to allow the public to voice their concerns about the possibility of merging the Bladenboro voting precincts one and two into a single Super Precinct that would serve all of Bladenboro. Board Chairman, Bobby Ludlum began the meeting by explaining that the purpose of the consolidation effort is to simplify the voting process for voters and poll workers, and to lessen the confusion that normally accompanies Election Day voting. He then invited those present to speak.

Zane Singletary, Chairman of the Bladen County Democratic Party, was the first to speak. Mr. Singletary, a precinct one (1) voter, who also spoke at the meeting in Elizabethtown, reiterated his displeasure with the idea of consolidating the precincts. He commented that at the Elizabethtown meeting, it had been said that Elizabethtown was already a single precinct, but had 2 polling places. He said that since the last meeting he had researched the matter and, in fact, Elizabethtown had been divided into 2 precincts in 1976. He stated that he wished to clear up that misconception, and went on to say that he hoped the board would consider the opinion of the public before making any decision. “I hope you will act in the best interest of the community,” he commented to the board, “Think about what you love, about Bladen County, and do your best for the voters.”

Larry Hayes was the next speaker. He began by thanking the board for their work, and asked if the plan to merge precincts moved forward would the board allow the Bladenboro polling place to remain at the Historical Building. “Bladen County is a small county and doesn’t have that many voters, but the location has an impact on me,” he continued, “I have had no problem voting here. I believe the change would be cost effective and would work. I will support your decision, and I’ll pray for you.”

Charles Ray Peterson, Chairman of the Bladen County Commissioners, took the podium to say, “I’d love to see you vote in one place. It will take the PACs (Political Action Committees) out of play and if you want to do something for Bladen County, get rid of the PACs.”

Next to speak was Bladen County Commissioner, Michael Cogdell, who touched on the aspect of Early Voting and Absentee Voting. “One Stop, Early Voting and Absentee By Mail Voting have been offered in Bladen County as a convenience and a privilege for the voters who may be handicapped or out of town, and yes, many people avail themselves of the convenience, but I don’t see why those people who vote on election day should have their polling place changed because of other people who use One Stop Early and Absentee Voting.” Mr. Cogdell stated that he had looked up the statute that governs the planned consolidation, and found that the party in power holds the entitled right to make decisions such as this one. He continued, “To me, it should be for the people to have ease on Election Day. I have seen locations change before, and if the Democrats take the majority in the next election, we could be looking at this question again in 2 years.”

Audrey Hehl said, “I have served as chief judge at Elizabethtown, and every Election Day I have to send people on a wild goose chase. People go to the Library 95% of the time because they think that is a polling place, but it’s not. It’s the Early Voting One Stop location. If we merge the precincts and move the polling place to the Library, it’s convenient. I don’t see what the board is doing as trying to disenfranchise anyone.”

William Hemphill took the podium and said, “When I first came here to vote, I couldn’t believe the Early Voting was at the Library and Election Day Voting was at the Gym.” He asked the board how they would ensure that the voters knew where to go to vote on Election Day if the precincts are merged.  We live small and rural here in Bladen County so why consolidate? Why fix something that’s not broken?”

Chairman Ludlum replied to Mr. Hemphill, “After Early Voting was started the confusion on Election Day got worse. We have four phone lines into the Board of Elections, and on Election Day those phones are typically very busy. When someone comes into vote at the wrong polling place their name can’t be found in the book of registered voters for that location, and we have to call the Board of Elections to determine where the individual is supposed to vote. People get impatient and sometimes angry. If we decide to move forward with the consolidation plan, we will advertise in every appropriate venue, and send out cards or letters to every registered voter, notifying them where they are to go to vote if they choose to wait until Election day.”

Cynthia Shaw, Board of Elections Director, commented, “Elizabethtown has changed polling places four times since I have been on the board. The last conference I went to, we were told about the deadlines we had to meet to get all of the information back to Raleigh, and it is a laundry list of information.”

Board member Al Daniels spoke up to say, “I became a member of this board in July of 2015, and at that time I was handed a package containing the consolidation plan. I just want to go on record that I didn’t have anything to do with making the plan.”

Jane Pait asked, “Where did the plan to consolidate originate?” And Cynthia Shaw answered, “A plan to consolidate had been talked about before, but no action had ever been taken until the current board was installed. By no means are we trying to keep anyone from voting. All registered voters will be mailed a letter to notify them of the change and we will do advertising to notify the community. The last time a change was made, we sent out 650 letters and 100 of them came back. People need to update their voter registrations to make sure we have their correct mailing addresses.”

Sharon Anderson stated that she was fond of the Spaulding Monroe building and that she had spent many of her childhood days there with her teachers and friends. She asked, “How many people vote by Early and Absentee ballot?” Board member, Brian Hehl, told her that at the last election about 50% of registered voters used One Stop Early or Absentee Voting. “In Bladenboro precinct 1 there were 392 votes by Early or Absentee ballot and 297 votes cast on Election Day. In precinct 2 there were 592 votes cast by Early and Absentee ballot, and 416 votes cast on Election Day. In the 2014 election cycle there were a total of 11,712 votes cast in Bladen County, of those, 5000 votes were cast in One Stop Early Voting and 1137 cast by Absentee By Mail.”

Chairman Ludlum stated, “If we do this we will add workers to eliminate lines at the polling place.” Marsha White said, “If we keep the Bladenboro polling place at the Historical Building, we will go to the curb to accept the ballots from the handicapped, and we have privacy sleeves for curb-side voting.”

Horrace Munn, of the Bladen County Improvement Association PAC, commented that One Stop Early Voting takes place over a period of time and Election Day voting is limited to the hours that the polls are open. He expressed another concern about having the single polling place in Bladenboro located at the Historical Building. “Black folks don’t want to go to the Historical Building,” he said, “Whites want it to be at the Historical Building, but Blacks don’t want to go there. Some Blacks have told me that if it is at the Historical Building, they just won’t go, and their votes will be lost.”

Sharon Anderson asked to speak in answer to Mr. Munn’s comments. She said, “I resent that race becomes an issue in everything. I know it happens but I wish it didn’t have to be present in this. I pray that people will stop seeing color and start seeing hearts.” Mr. Munn responded that he wished that race didn’t have to be an issue either, but it is. Ms. Anderson agreed that it is an issue, and Munn and Anderson both agreed to pray for each other and the community.

Thelma Hester expressed her concern that changing the place for voting will cause the loss of a lot of votes. “We consider the Spaulding Monroe Center a Historical Building, too,” she said.

Chairman Ludlum asked if there was anyone else who would like to speak and when there was no response, he stated that a decision would be made in 2 weeks and then he adjourned the meeting.

BladenOnline.com has posted a survey to gather opinions from the community about the Bladen County Board of Elections idea to consolidate the polling places in Bladenboro and Elizabethtown. To take the survey, Click Here

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