Elections office works to fix processing issue

    Murphy – A mix up on guidance from the state caused 33 out of about 400 absentee ballot request forms already processed for the general election to be temporarily rejected in Cherokee County.
    Those 33 voters received letters from the Cherokee County Board of Elections informing the request for an absentee ballot had been denied due to responses being typed. Just days after those letters were sent, the county board of elections received guidance from the state Board of Elections clarifying that a typed request form was acceptable, said Leighsa Jones, the county’s director of elections.
    “The guidance makes clear that, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, a county board of elections should presume that the request was submitted by an authorized person,” Jones said. “The relatively small number of forms affected by the administrative change are being processed, and these voters will receive absentee by mail ballots in early September.”
    Elections office staff changed their processing procedures and contacted each person affected Friday. Staff said most were understanding and grateful they were being cautious in the absentee voting process.
    One person was not. Susan Landis, the Democrat running for the District 120 state House of Representatives seat against Republican Karl Gillespie, called the incident voter suppression.
    “I don’t think it’s malicious,” Landis said, adding that she’s never had any difficulties with county elections staff. “But something isn’t right, I don’t know what.”
    She called the elections office after receiving her letter in the mail, before elections staff had seen the guidance to accept the forms. She was told there were third-party groups partially filling out forms for voters, and they were told to reject those forms. Something about Landis’ form fit the criteria, she was told.
    Staff assured her they would correct the issue for her. Board of Elections Chairman Gary Kilpatrick also called to reassure her that her request would be processed, Landis said. As of last week, there was no record of an absentee request for Landis in the state’s voter search tool.
    Landis said she was not concerned about third-party groups doing this, explaining it’s just a request for a ballot, not an actual ballot. She thinks the groups are probably well meaning in their actions.
    She said she knew her husband was also affected, as well as someone local she knows through social media. She had also heard of three similar cases in Buncombe County.
    Landis thinks there may be a lack of training in the elections office, which is going to have the result of suppressing the vote. Through communications with state officials, she learned there was training staff were supposed to know about on the topic. While she followed up, and even contacted the state board of elections, she knows not everyone will, and is concerned those people will believe they cannot vote absentee.
    Elections staff said only some of the forms rejected had party affiliation noted on them – the newer versions of the form don’t even ask for party affiliation. Jones said of those forms, eight were for Democrats, four were Republicans, three were unaffiliated and 18 did not indicate their party
affiliation.
    “No one’s vote was suppressed,” Jones said. “We continue to work hard each day to ensure fair elections in Cherokee County and are ready to help all voters during this pandemic, whether they choose to vote absentee by mail or in person during one-stop early voting or on Election Day.”
    Staff said a couple other absentee ballot requests were rejected because the individual was not yet a registered voter.
    Cherokee County has 21,651 registered voters as of Aug. 10. Of those, 10,222 are Republicans, 4,204 are Democrats and 7,085 are unaffiliated.
    Those who wish to vote absentee in the Tuesday, Nov. 3, general election must make the request to the county elections office by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27. No excuse is needed to request an absentee ballot. Forms may be found online at NCSBE.gov or at the elections office, 40 Peachtree St. downtown.
    Absentee ballots will be mailed out starting Friday, Sept. 4. In North Carolina, absentee ballots may be returned by mail, by commercial delivery service, in person at the elections office or in person at an open early voting site.
    Absentee ballots must be returned to the county elections office by 5 p.m. on Election Day, or postmarked on or before Nov. 3 and received by mail by 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6. Absentee ballots cannot be returned to voting precincts on Election Day.
    In-person early voting will be held from Oct. 15-31.