Board of Election explores on-campus voting options

The Orange County Board of Elections will spend the next month evaluating buildings across campus that might be suitable for its next on-campus voting site.

The board decided not to use the Rams Head Dining Hall voting site because it failed to provide adequate curbside voting for handicapped voters.

The board will continue to take submissions for on-campus voting sites this month, but it hopes to make its final decision during its meeting on March 4. Students can submit their suggestions to the board by contacting Tracy Reams, the director of the Board of Elections.

The board must submit all of its voting sites to the State Board of Elections by March 14.

Currently the board of elections is exploring Cobb Residence Hall, The Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History and the N.C. Hillel Building. Representatives from the board toured some of these locations Tuesday. Staff Writer Joey DeVito joined them for the tour.

Cobb Residence Hall

One location the Orange County Board of Elections is considering is the basement of Cobb Residence Hall.

When looking at residence halls, the security of the residents was a priority and will not be an issue in Cobb, said Larry Hicks, director of housing and residential education for UNC.

“People can come in and out of the basement area without actually accessing residents,” Hicks said.

Voters would be able to park in Cobb deck, metered spots in front of the building or a parking lot behind the building.

The concern is whether or not Cobb will be able to provide curbside parking for handicapped voters. The lack of curbside parking was the reason the Board of Elections had to move from Rams Head Dining Hall.

Board members are worried that the technology that facilitates curbside voting will not work at Cobb, but Hicks remains confident that UNC will be able to work around this issue.

Stone Center

The Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History provides space and security, but questions remain about the long term viability of the location.

The Hitchcock room of the Stone Center gives the Board of Elections the spacious room they are looking for.

The Stone Center is handicap accessible and can be secured when the voting booths are not open.

Linda Convissor, director of local relations at UNC, said there is legislation preventing the voting location from being close to the football stadium on game days. This would not impact any of the 2014 elections, but could be a problem for future elections.

“We are lucky this year that the two Sundays of early voting are away games, which is kind of an usual situation,” Convissor said.

Hillel Building

The UNC Hillel building is the only of the three which was not suggested by UNC because it is not university owned.

The building is handicap accessible and the location would be ideal for curbside voting, said Tracy Reams, director of the Orange County Board of Elections.

The building also meets the security requirements the board is looking for.

Although the Hillel building is not affiliated with the university, UNC student government has been involved with the selection process.

“We have spoken with several of UNC’s student government,” Reams said. “We got the impression that they were happy with that location.”

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