The Bladen County Board of Elections discussed more than the municipal election during the canvass meeting. The 2019 municipal elections were held Tuesday, November 5th and the final canvass for the election was closed out on Friday, November 15th, 2019 with an approval from the local board of elections.
Since the local board approved the municipal election results, the next step for the results to be official is for the North Carolina State Board of Elections to approve the local board’s findings. Currently the NC State Board of Elections only has some of the local results listed on an online report for Bladen County. No date was announced as to when the elections’ outcome would receive approval by the state board for the November election.
The local election’s office is also understaffed. The board assigned a committee at a prior meeting to work on filling positions needed for the Bladen County Board of Elections office. The committee was holding interviews on Friday morning before the meeting, but the outcome of the interviews was not announced. There are at least two employment positions vacant at this time. For more information about the open positions you may contact the board of elections office at 910-862-6951.
In September the board confirmed possible criminal activity of two voters submitting ballots twice during the 9th Congressional District special election. The information about the activity of both voters was submitted to the North Carolina State Board of Elections and the Bladen County District Attorney’s Office, according to Mrs. Valeria Peacock-McKoy in a previous interview.
“Some people do get confused with the one-stop voting and election day,” Mrs. Valeria Peacock-McKoy with the election’s office reported during the special election.
The possible felony crimes made by one Republican voter and one Democrat voter was investigated. The board confirmed last week in both cases no malicious intent was determined and the two cases have been dropped. The identities of the two individuals were not released.
Mr. Christopher L. Williams the new Bladen County Elections Director, also announced on Friday he would be in training in Raleigh, NC all week starting on Monday, November 18, 2019.
During the board’s open forum of the meeting, Mr. Grover Bryant a member of the audience commented about an editorial about the Bladen County Board of Elections not pledging allegiance to the American flag before their meetings. The board acknowledge Mr. Bryant’s comment, but no vote or discussion was made about the board reciting the pledge to the flag at the meetings.
The next meeting for the Bladen County Board of Elections will be to approve One-Stop for the 2020 elections. The meeting will be held at the elections office located at 301 S. Cypress Street in Elizabethtown on Wednesday, December 4, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. The board will hold a regular monthly meeting at the election’s office on December 10, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. The meetings are open to the public.
Related articles:
https://bladencounty.org/2019-bladen-county-municipal-election-results-2/
https://bladencounty.org/bladen-county-board-of-elections-confirm-possible-criminal-activity/
https://bladencounty.org/opinion-bladen-county-board-of-elections-should-pledge-allegiance-to-the-american-flag/
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