Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

March 6, 2008 issue

Board of Elections Anticipates Record Turnout for May Primary

New Voter Registrations in Watauga Well Below State Trend

Story by Kathleen McFadden

According to Democracy North Carolina, a new county-by-county analysis shows that at least 2.5 million North Carolinians—two out of every five adult citizens—have not cast a ballot in the past eight years.

“They didn’t vote in the 2000 or 2004 presidential elections or anytime else,” said Bob Hall, executive director of Democracy North Carolina, a Durham-based watchdog group, in a statement. “Most of them are registered to vote and just never show up, but about one million are not even registered.”

According to the Watauga County Board of Elections, 4,208 voters are currently on the inactive list, meaning they have not voted in the past eight years.

However, some of those voters may decide to head to their precincts for the May 6 primary, and that has elections officials preparing now for record turnouts.

Voter Registration Numbers—Parties Lose Voters

Statewide, voter registration is up in anticipation of the May 6 primary. About 64,000 people registered to vote in the first six weeks of 2008, according to Gary Bartlett, executive director of the State Board of Elections. So far, however, the Watauga County Board of Elections has not seen a surge in registrations, and according to current numbers, both parties have lost voters, while the net increase from last October is a mere 12 voters.

On October 1, 2007, Watauga County had 12,387 registered Democrats. As of March 1, 2008, that number had dropped to 12,361, a loss of 26.

On October 1, 2007, Watauga County had 14,733 registered Republicans. As of March 1, 2008, that number had dropped to 14,700, a loss of 33.

However, on October 1, 2007, Watauga County had 10,946 voters registered as unaffiliated. As of March 1, 2008, that number had increased by 71 to 11,017. That increase could account for the 59 total registrations lost to the two parties—voters who switched their registration to unaffiliated—along with 12 new registrations.

According to a spokesperson at the Watauga County Board of Elections, although the staff has not seen any appreciable increase in registrations, they expect the pace to pick up as the registration deadline of Friday, April 11, approaches.

Commenting on the changes in registration from a party affiliation to unaffiliated, the Board of Elections spokesperson said that students—and increasingly older voters—are opting to register without declaring a party. One reason they give is that as an unaffiliated voter they can choose which primary they vote in. Another reason they cite is to avoid being inundated with party political mailings and phone calls.

Preparing for a Record Turnout

“North Carolina could easily exceed the normal range of 16 to 31 percent turnout [of registered voters] in the primary election and possibly exceed a 50 percent turnout,” Bartlett told county election officials in a recent memo. Bartlett also announced two grant programs to help counties equip and operate additional One-Stop Early Voting sites for the primary.

Watauga County Board of Elections Director Jane Ann Hodges asked the Board of Commissioners on Monday, March 3, for permission to apply for grants under those two programs. The board approved Hodges’ request to apply for $4,818 to cover labor costs for early voting sites and $40,000 to purchase four laptops and three additional voting machines.

“I feel we will have a heavy turnout in the primary and general election,” Hodges said, “and the Board [of Elections] is creating a new precinct [that will require voting equipment].”

The local Board of Elections decided to create a new transfer precinct at Appalachian State University that will be located next to the Boone 2 precinct polling place. Transfer precincts accommodate voters who have moved but have not yet reported their new addresses to the Board of Elections. The board hopes that increasing the number of transfer precincts from one to two will reduce the number of provisional ballots.

 

Voting in the May 6 Primary

Voters in the Tuesday, May 6, primary must vote in the party primary with which they are affiliated.

Unaffiliated voters—those voters not registered with a political party—can vote in either party’s primary. Unaffiliated voters must state to the poll worker at voter check-in that they want to vote in one of the party primaries. Otherwise the unaffiliated voter will be given a nonpartisan ballot to vote.

Voters can change their party affiliation to be effective for the May 6 primary by making that change in writing on a voter registration application at the Board of Elections on or before April 11. Voters who have moved or changed their names are encouraged to update their voter registration information before April 11. That way, you don’t have to vote a transfer or provisional ballot. And if you’re one of those voters who hasn’t voted in the past eight years and is in the inactive list, you need to head to the Board of Elections as well and reregister to vote.

Polls during the May 6 primary will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Any voter in line to vote at 7:30 pm will be allowed to vote.

 

When’s Early Voting?

For the May 6 primary, Early One-Stop Voting begins Monday, April 17, and ends Saturday, May 3.

 

What About Same-Day Registration?

A new law effective in 2007 allows registration and voting on the same day and could also boost turnout in the May primary. Anyone who misses the normal cutoff to register 25 days before Election Day—this year, that cutoff date is Friday, April 11—can still go to an early voting site, show a form of ID, register and vote, all at the same time.