The following is a statement from the State Board of Elections regarding recent social media posts suggesting that if an election worker writes on your ballot, it will invalidate your ballot. In North Carolina, this is false.
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Reporters and editors: Please see the attached email sent to directors of county boards of elections about Wednesday evening’s court decisions in cases concerning absentee ballot deficiencies. Additional State Board guidance will follow, as outlined in the email.
This evening, we received letters of resignation from State Board of Elections members David Black and Ken Raymond. We appreciate their service to the State Board, particularly the knowledge and perspective they provided from their years of service as members of county boards of elections. Their resignation letters are attached.
The following is a statement from Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections: North Carolina’s statewide election management system will not allow a voter to vote twice in an election.
State Board of Elections Executive Director Kim Westbrook Strach issued the following statement on the passage of House Bill 2: "Every NC voter should be confident their voice will be heard in all primary contests. In each election, voters should mark their preference in all contests—including candidates for U.S. House appearing on ballots in March. Vote the whole ballot and let us worry about what will count."
The State Board of Elections Office is aware of a report from the Civitas Institute regarding statements made by a Board of Elections employee at a public voter outreach session last week in Pasquotank County.
The State Board of Elections is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all voters. Security at polling places is primarily the responsibility of county elections officials in coordination with local law enforcement. Aware of heightened security concerns this election season, the State Board of Elections office has taken steps to ensure the safety of voters, observers and poll workers during the voting process.
Onslow County resident Robert John Dougherty III said in a sworn statement to the N.C. State Board of Elections on Monday (10/31) that he has never committed voter fraud in North Carolina or any other state. He told Board of Elections investigators that a recent social media post he made in which he claimed to have voted for other people was meant to be a “joke” shared between family and friends and was not true. He expressed regret that his post has gone viral, stating that he wished to apologize to the State Board of Elections for causing extra work for elections staff.
Through early Saturday afternoon, more than 3 million North Carolina voters had cast ballots in the 2016 General Election, either through in-person early voting or by mailing in absentee ballots. That’s 44 percent of the state’s registered voters.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections Office early Tuesday directed Durham County to use paper poll books throughout the day after technical problems with electronic poll books were encountered in some precincts.