Elections
board expects record turnout One-stop voting numbers rocket
By Scott Nicholson
Early-voting numbers are suggesting a record turnout for
the 2008 General Election, with the number of one-stop ballots
cast running about eight times higher than in 2006.
As of Tuesday evening, 5,373 people had cast ballots at the county’s
one-stop polls. “We believe we’ve already voted 7 percent
(of registered voters),” said elections director Jane Hodges.
In 2006, voter turnout was 40 percent, and about a third of those
were cast during the two weeks of the one-stop voting period.
In the last presidential election in 2004, voter turnout was 71
percent, with 28 percent casting ballots during the one-stop period.
There are 39,154 active voters on the county’s registration
rolls. That includes 12,717 Democrats, 14,080 Republicans, 12,316
unaffiliated and 41 Libertarians. New voters can also register
on-site during the one-stop voting period.
Hodges reported that the elections board had received more than
6,000 new registrations and change-of-address notices this year.
Requests for mail-in absentee ballots had been a little heavier
than usual, but not at the dramatic rate seen in one-stop voting,
she said.
The one-stop polling sites opened Thursday, Oct 16 and continue
through Saturday, Nov. 1. The sites are open weekdays from 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m., and on the final Saturday, they are open 8 a.m. to
1 p.m.
The county has added three one-stop locations to supplement the
traditional two sites at the elections office in the county courthouse
and in the Agricultural Conference Center, both of which are in
Boone.
Additional sites are at the Boone Town Council Chambers on Blowing
Rock Road, in the Plemmons Student Union on the Appalachian State
University campus, and the Mountain Ruritan site in Sugar Grove.
The Ruritan site opens Monday and was selected to serve voters
in the western portion of the county.
Disability Rights North Carolina also audited the county’s
one-stop sites for accessibility, and Hodges said the audit was
to ensure the protection of rights for disabled voters.
“We met all our accessibility needs at our one-stop voting
sites,” Hodges said. “We consider our access issues
and work together to ensure the rights of all voters.”
For registration questions or information, call the elections
office at (828) 265-8061.
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