Board approves 2020 voting sites

ROCKINGHAM — The Richmond County Board of Elections on Tuesday approved early voting sites for the 2020 election.

The board unanimously approved four total sites. Those are the Richmond County Cooperative Extension office at 123 Caroline St. in Rockingham, the Browder Park gym, First Presbyterian Church in Hamlet and First United Methodist Church in Ellerbe.

The Cooperative Extension office will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays beginning Oct. 15 through Oct. 30 and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31. The other sites will be open from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. from Oct. 15 to Oct. 30, and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31.

These other sites will also open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday Oct. 17 and Oct. 24, and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 25.

These extra Saturdays are optional, but the board elected to add them in keeping with past presidential election years, according to Director of Elections Connie Kelly.

For election day, Nov. 3, the voting sites for each precinct remain unchanged. Kelly said that the board is operating under the assumption that the COVID-19 restrictions will still be in place by election time and will take necessary precautions. Those include encouraging the well-known social distancing and face mask practices, as well as allowing for two separate entrance and exit points from each site.

Kelly said that if the polling site does not have a second exit, there will be a poll worker stationed at the door to direct traffic in order to reduce the amount of people crossing each other in close proximity. The Richmond County Board of Elections has received federal funds to support these efforts, though Kelly was unable to provide exact figures Wednesday.

Richmond County has seen a dramatic increase in mail-in ballot requests, likely due to fears of COVID-19. Kelly said the Board of Elections has received about 120 requests this year, compared to 13 prior to the 2016 election and none in 2012.

“People are thinking and planning (around the virus),” Kelly said. “It’s not one party or one age group it’s a good variety of people.”

The last day to request a mail-in ballot is Oct. 27. Those interested in requesting a mail-in ballot can do so by going to www.ncsbe.gov, visiting the Richmond County Board of Elections’ page at www.richmondnc.com, going in person or mailing a request to the Board of Elections office at 221 S. Hancock St. in Rockingham, or by calling the county office at 910-417-4900.

New voting rules

Following the investigation in ballot fraud in the 9th Congressional District race in Bladen County in 2018 which cost Republican Mark Harris a victory, the state has adopted H.B. 1169 to help prevent similar fraud in the future.

Effective July 1, it will be a Class I Felony for any state board or county board of elections member to knowingly send or deliver an absentee ballot to a person who did not request one.

Additionally, until Dec. 31, 2020, a voter’s returned absentee ballot will only be accepted and processed if the voter marked the ballot in the presence of a witness who is at least 18 years old. Absentee requests can now be submitted by email or fax, in addition to being delivered in person or sent by mail or commercial carrier.

The new law also allows a multi-partisan assistance team (MAT) — made up of at least two registered voters of the county representing the two parties with the highest affiliation and appointed by the members of their respective parties — to assist any voter in completing their absentee request form, delivering the absentee request form, and serving as a witness of them filling out the absentee ballot.

State officials are directed under the new law to develop guidance to safely allow MAT teams to assist voters in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, assisted living, or other congregation living situations during the general election, according to a summary of the law provided by the Richmond County Board of Elections.