South Williams polling place will stay open until 8:15 p.m.

By DEUCE NIVEN

tribdeuce@tabor-loris.com

     Election day issues involving laptop computers caused delays at Columbus County’s South Williams Precinct, the Tabor City Courthouse, prompting the North Carolina State Board of Elections to extend voting hours there by 45 minutes.

     That decision by a unanimous state board came after a half-hour of discussion during an emergency meeting called to consider voting delays at South Williams and other sites across North Carolina.

Columbus County Board of Elections Director Ashley Collins, who spoke to the state board by telephone, said that precinct workers in Tabor City were unable to get elections software operating properly before the polls opened at 6:30 p.m., but “immediately” turned to a slower, paper process to process voters and given them ballots.

“They never turned voters away,” Collins told the board.

Collins said poll workers in Tabor City were not stationed at the door, and could not say if any potential voters left because of the delay.

     State board members said they had received affidavits saying that from 15 to 30 potential voters left before casting ballots, and before the computer issues were resolved.

     “I think we have to stay open,” state board member Angela Hawkins said.

     Board member Jeff Carmon said “77 minutes” were in dispute, but that “I don’t think we would want to extend for an hour. I think it would be fair to extend some time.”

     Hawkins suggested 45 minutes, that would end voting in Tabor City at 8:15 p.m. Her motion, with a second from Carmon, was unanimously approval.

     Vote totals will not be released to the public until after all the polls in the state are closed, no earlier than 8:15 because of the South Williams decision, but that time might be later if issues elsewhere in the state force longer delays in closing the polls.

Provisional?

     Voters who are in line at the Tabor City Courthouse by 7:30 p.m., when polls were scheduled to close, will cast those ballots and enter them into the ballot counting machine, state board members said.

     Those who arrive at the courthouse after 7:30 p.m., and by 8:15 p.m., will be given provisional ballots. Those votes will not be counted on election day. Eligibility of those voters will be determined by the Columbus County Board of Elections during a 3 p.m. meeting on Nov. 10, a previous notice from the county board said.

     Look for local election results in this week’s Tabor-Loris Tribune in print and online.