Elections board establishes ASU buffer

By Scott Nicholson

The local board of elections bucked the advice of its own counsel and state board of elections policy in establishing buffer zones for a heavily used one-stop voting poll.

The Watauga County Board of Elections voted 2-1 on Oct. 23 to set buffer zones outside hallway entrances in the Plemmons Student Union on the Appalachian State University campus rather than the buildingÕs main entrances.

A buffer zone is the area past the polling place within which all campaign signs or other material or campaign representatives are prohibited.

The two Democratic members of the elections board, Stella Anderson and Rusty Henson, interpreted state statute to mean local boards had the authority to establish the definition of an ÒareaÓ from which the poll buffers are drawn. Campaigning activities are prohibited with 50 feet of a voting place.

Republican board member Stacy Eggers IV voted against the proposal, feeling the local board should follow the policy set by the state board.

Earlier in the day, after a series of conversations researching the election statuteÕs language, State Board of Elections attorney Don Wright said the standard policy was to measure the buffer zone from the front door of the building where the voting was taking place.

The student union is problematic because it is large and contains several facilities with numerous doors, while most voting sites are in small buildings. The board had acknowledged it would be difficult to enforce the statute, which would preclude candidates being in the student union or campaigns having tables in the building during voting times.

County attorney Andrea Capua said, while she believed there was room for interpretation in the statute as written, which states the buffer zone is measured from the Òdoor or area,Ó she recommended following state board policy.

The discussion of the statute led to the discovery of an error in some versions of the statute, including the version posted on the General AssemblyÕs Web site. It was adopted in 2001.

The question arose because of a one-stop voting site in the Plemmons Student Union on the Appalachian State University campus. Board chairwoman Stella Anderson said the board had the authority and responsibility to make an interpretation on the buffer zones, though the board ended up seeing two different versions of the statute regulating the buffers.

She made a motion to define the Òvoting placeÓ as a specific area in Room 112 in the student union, with doorways at both ends of the hallway. She proposed making the buffer zone 25 feet from each door of the hall.

Board member Stacy ÒFourÓ Eggers IV said during state training, board members were told the interpretation should be 50 feet from the outside door of the building in its entirety. The site has several different areas.

Anderson said, for the student union, the board should establish the Òappropriate areaÓ that is easily defined and identified, which could be the hallway.

One definition reviewed by the board said Òdoor or area,Ó while another referred only to the ÒdoorÓ of the voting enclosure. The elections board was working from regulations printed in 2007, while county attorney Andrea Capua had researched the statute through an online legal resource updated this year.

Capua said her definition was that the buffer zone should be measured by the front door, though there was some concern over which of two statutes were the most recent. Capua said based on the interpretation of the latest statute she had, she would legally define the 50 feet as being measured from each door.

Capua said she could only render an opinion, and it would be the boardÕs choice to accept it. ÒIf you add the word Ôarea,Õ IÕm not prepared to answer that question,Ó she said.

Board member Rusty Henson said it would be difficult to police the many entrances at the student union and keep people from campaigning.

Anderson believed the local board had the authority to establish the buffer zones, and if the statute Òsimply said Ôbuilding,Õ we wouldnÕt be here and there would be no argument.Ó

Eggers said people still had access to vote, but it was simply a matter of where ÒelectioneeringÓ was allowed. Eggers also wondered why the interpretation was being made in special meetings instead of well in advance of elections.

Anderson said new one-stop sites had been added and the problems werenÕt known until the voting started. Eggers responded that the student union had been used as a poll before Òand weÕre changing rules in midstream.Ó

The board also discussed whether the State Board of Elections had rendered a clear opinion on the statute, and whether the stateÕs interpretation was based on the existing book.

Anderson said, ÒMost of the time itÕs not an issue because weÕre dealing with one building and not one with multiple facilities within the building.Ó

During the meeting, elections director Jane Hodges called Bob Joyce of the Institute for Government for an interpretation of the statute. Joyce said the 2008 bound versions of the elections law didnÕt include the word Òarea,Ó though there was no note of when the law was amended.

In 2001, when the law was enacted, it didnÕt have the words Òor area.Ó A later session law added that language, but it failed to be entered in the statute language, suggesting there was room for interpretation.

State elections board attorney Don Wright reviewed the statute and said, ÒEven the General Assembly Web site has the law wrong.Ó He said the general practice and interpretation of the statute had been to measure the buffer from the front door of a building because otherwise people tended to campaign in halls and disrupt the functioning of some public places.

Wright said, ÒWe really donÕt see where the Watauga County government comes in and interprets the statute.Ó

Hodges said elections workers are trained to interpret Òvoting placeÓ as the entire building and Òvoting enclosureÓ as the specific polling room.

ÒThis has resulted in something good, and weÕre now aware thereÕs an error to be corrected,Ó Wright said.
The student union is one of five one-stop voting sites scheduled for use in Watauga County until Nov. 1, with Election Day on Nov. 4.