To Whom It May Concern:
A recent report on WECT raised questions about early voting in Bladen County for the November 7th municipal elections. The Bladen County Board of Elections would like to offer additional information for clarification and perspective regarding this issue.
It is important to understand that early voting and absentee voting are essentially the same, and that you cannot have one without the other. While early/absentee voting is mandated by North Carolina law for county, state, and federal elections, it is optional for municipal elections. Each municipality makes the decision about including early/absentee voting as part of its election. This is explained very clearly in NCGS 163-302. Each of the seven municipalities notified the Bladen County Board of Elections Director of their decision not to participate in early/absentee voting for 2023.
Of the seven municipalities holding elections in Bladen County this year, there is only one in which the incumbents have any opposition. None of the seven have a referendum, which often increases voter turnout.
The entire cost of each municipal election is paid for by the municipality, including the cost of staffing the voting site for more than two weeks, rent for the site, the cost of printed ballots, etc. Therefore, the governing board of each municipality must make the decision based on factors such as the number of candidates and expected voter turnout, as well as the cost of the election. We have every confidence that each of the seven municipalities made their decisions to opt out of early/absentee voting for 2023 after carefully weighing all of the information specific to their towns and the citizens who reside within them.
The role of the county board of elections in municipal elections is limited by NCGS 163-304, which gives jurisdiction over municipal elections to the North Carolina State Board of Elections and allows the local board of elections only to administer municipal elections as the municipalities request.
If you need additional information, feel free to contact the Board at (910) 862-6951. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Lafayette Atkinson, Chair
Bladen County Board of Elections
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