Buncombe elections board consolidates expansion requests, approves $50,000 cut while preserving flexibility for early-voting sites

The Buncombe County Board of Elections voted by voice to reduce its operating budget by $50,000 while preserving flexibility to use the money for either leasing larger early‑voting sites or funding an additional site.

The board’s executive director, Crane Duncan, and staff presented a package of four recommended budget expansions — including a $14,000 seasonal-staff pay increase, an election‑day poll-worker pay equity adjustment, funds to lease larger early‑voting sites, and a request to expand from 12 to 14 early‑voting sites. Duncan told the board the county requested a roughly 3% reduction of department budgets and staff had prioritized which expansion items to keep.

“Without this increase, we’ll likely continue to have difficulty filling positions,” the presenter said of the seasonal pay proposal, which staff estimated would cost about $14,000. Staff also emphasized that maintenance contracts for voting equipment are required by state contract and could not be cut.

Board members debated a trade‑off between fewer, larger sites (which require parking and space capacity) and more sites (which increase workload at headquarters and staffing needs). Jake (speaker 2) questioned the county’s 3% target and urged county leaders to explain the basis for the ask; other members suggested consolidating the two site‑related lines and trimming them by $50,000 to provide staff a single flexible contingency.

A member moved to consolidate the two site‑related expansion items and reduce the budget by $50,000; the motion was seconded and passed by voice vote with members saying “aye.” Chair (speaker 1) announced the result: the elections budget will be reduced by $50,000, with staff to manage the consolidated line item as needed while preserving required maintenance spending.

What this means: the board approved savings while leaving staff discretionary flexibility to respond to site availability or to reallocate funds for recruiting if necessary. The board also asked staff to gather comparative county budget data — including answers to an auditor’s recent request — to support future budget conversations with commissioners.

The board moved on to other business; next procedural steps include staff finalizing the consolidated line item for the county budget process and reporting back when more detailed early‑voting site options are available.