by Theresa Opeka - The Carolina Journal

On Friday, the North Carolina State Board of Elections launched a new effort to modernize the state’s data system and said there are 75,000 voters remaining on the Registration Repair List, the ongoing work on tens of thousands of incomplete voter registrations across the state.

However, Friday’s regular course of business unfolded against the backdrop of new allegations of a vote-buying scheme in New Hanover County. Members of the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) entered a closed session to discuss the NCGOP’s request for an investigation into alleged vote-buying efforts involving three Democratic candidates for Wilmington City Council. A registered voter in New Hanover County claimed they were offered $100 in cash for their vote through a text message.

No decision on the request for the investigation has been announced.

The meeting comes as early voting is already underway ahead of the November 4 municipal elections. NCSBE reports that more than 157,000 voters in 447 cities across 88 counties had already cast ballots statewide during early voting, with few reported problems.

Modernizing systems and software

In the meantime, NCSBE Executive Director Sam Hayes announced a joint initiative with the State Auditor Dave Boliek’s office to solicit input for modernizing the state’s Election Information Management System and Campaign Finance Reporting Software, both of which he said are outdated.

More information on the projects can be found on a newly created website, ncsbe.gov/rfi. Vendors with expertise in those areas can submit bids on the projects, and the public can submit comments on the website. County board members and directors across the state, as well as election integrity activists, are encouraged to share their thoughts and suggestions.

REgistration repair list update

Hayes also reported that 75,000 voters remain on the Registration Repair List, down 27% from the initial 103,000. The list was compiled of voters who either do not have a driver’s license number or the last four digits of their social security number on their voter registration. NCSBE first mailed out letters in August, and Hayes said they plan on sending a second mailing to voters who remain on the list shortly.

He also noted that only 3 out of approximately 200 voters on the list had their votes not count in the September and October municipal elections, which shows that the vast majority were able to correct their registrations at their voting sites.

Hayes also reported that a technical glitch caused a small number of counties to mistakenly send registration letters to under 1,000 voters in less than 10 counties. Counties could go in and make administrative corrections as voters repaired their registrations. The action inadvertently generated an automatic mailer for those voters. He said, however, that it did not affect voter eligibility or registration status.

Early Voting Plan Deadlines and Staffing

A new resolution was also passed, setting permanent deadlines for county early voting plans during even-year elections. Counties must submit plans six weeks before absentee voting begins, which is what has been done historically by the board.

For the 2026 primary, counties must submit their plans by Dec. 5, with the option to extend the deadline to Dec. 19 if additional time is needed. Submissions for the 2026 General Election will be due around mid-July.

The resolution also recommends that if counties appoint emergency election assistants, smaller counties should aim for at least four emergency election assistants, while larger counties should have at least eight.

The board acknowledged that it may not be feasible for all counties to do this due to staffing shortages.

Numbered Memos Review

The board approved reorganizing and categorizing numbered memos, which provide policy guidance to counties, on the NCSBE website.

The board took this action to make the memos more accessible to the public and to make them more easily understandable. Some may need to be revisited in the future and may be kept in the outdated section, where they may have some archival or historical value.

Secretary and board member Stacy “Four” Eggers IV led the project, along with help from board member Siobhan Millen.

“This first step is to take this stack of papers and reduce it by hopefully three-fourths so that it’s actually a usable set of guidance so that if we have a new county director, new county board members, they can easily locate what is the current guidance rather than here are four sets of instructions on various past hurricanes, which one do I choose,” he said. “So the purpose of today’s project is to cull those that are not useful and leave those that are, without going through and rewriting any of the memorandums.”

The memos will now be listed in three groups on the board’s website: Current Guidance, Outdated, and Rescinded.

Historically, numbered memos have been used for a wide variety of functions, including communicating election results to hurricane preparedness.

Hayes said that he has brought each of his executive memos to the board for a vote since he took over the position earlier this year, and they will continue to be debated in an open forum.

Periodic Rule Review

The board unanimously adopted staff recommendations and public responses for the board’s periodic review of rules to determine which are necessary or unnecessary.

A periodic review of an agency’s rules is conducted every 10 years.

About 160 comments were received through the end of the comment period on Oct. 17. Most existing rules were reaffirmed as necessary and will be readopted through formal rulemaking over the next two years.

County Board Member Complaint dismissed

The board dismissed a complaint filed by a Chatham County voter against an Orange County Board of Elections member regarding social media posts on Nextdoor, which allegedly showed prejudice and bias against Hispanic and Latino people, as well as those who speak foreign languages.

The complainant stated that the social media posts violate the board’s administrative rules and election laws, demonstrating an inability to be impartial and a fair elections official.

A motion on the lack of evidence of a violation of the election laws passed, with board member Jeff Carmon casting the sole “no” vote. The board, however, advised caution in the use of social media by election officials.

Theresa Opeka is the Executive Branch reporter for the Carolina Journal.

Link to original article - https://www.carolinajournal.com/ncsbe-to-upgrade-software-cautions-elections-officials-on-social-media-use/

NCSBE to upgrade software, cautions elections officials on social media use

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