Board of Elections reviews final election logistics, explains ballot types and voter guidance ahead of March 3 primary

Corinne Duncan, the executive director of the Buncombe County Board of Elections, told the board the office is "one week from election day" and reminded voters that the March 3 primary requires a photo ID and that they must vote at their assigned voting location. She said the office mailed notification cards to voters affected by eight polling-location changes and urged voters to use the voter-information tool on the elections website to find sample ballots and polling places.

Duncan reported early-voting turnout of "over 14,000" voters so far (14,303 counted before the meeting) and said all of the early-voting sites opened on schedule despite cold weather. She described typical primary turnout patterns and suggested earlier early-voting days if voters want to avoid Saturday crowds.

On election-night operations, Duncan said recent law changes make it harder for the board to travel to the warehouse and proposed using a remote monitor and staff check-ins so board members can follow arrivals and precinct reporting without sending multiple members to the warehouse. She outlined the timeline for post-election processing, including an absentee meeting at 7:30 a.m. for ballots arriving after earlier sessions, printing early-vote machine results and collecting/uploading flash drives from polling locations, and noted that a quorum of the board will be required to oversee absentee and early-vote results.

The board discussed a recent local incident in Black Mountain where a voter requested a hand-marked ballot during early voting. Duncan explained the county selected ExpressVote machines for early voting and that curbside voters receive preprinted hand-marked ballots for accessibility reasons. "Everything is a paper ballot. North Carolina requires that paper ballot," she said, and added that the state board confirmed offering hand-marked ballots universally is not required where ExpressVote is used. She warned that offering both methods broadly would require preprinting ballots, extra poll-worker steps and would increase cost and complexity, and recommended any change be considered after the election.

The board was directed to follow up on several operational items in post-election meetings, including the statutorily required pre-election sessions on the Monday before the election and the process for audit and provisional ballots. The next steps noted were continued monitoring of early-voting numbers, on-the-day check-ins for warehouse reporting, and a post-election review of any policy changes about ballot methods.