Residents protest end of Carrboro early voting site

With two fewer early voting sites for the May primary, county officials are concerned that voter turnout might decline.

The Orange County Board of Elections voted earlier this month to have only two early voting sites in May, at Morehead Planetarium on the University’s campus and at the Board of Elections office in Hillsborough.

That eliminates the Robert and Pearl Seymour Center in Chapel Hill and the Carrboro Town Hall.

Orange County Commissioners and Carrboro Aldermen are particularly worried about the loss of the Town Hall location — so much that County Commissioner Alice Gordon said the board might decide to fund the voting site.

“We are under an extremely tight budget situation at this point, and despite that we might decide it’s worth it to keep this site open,” she said. “Public access is important.”

The Town Hall had an early voter turnout of 3,897 voters, second only to the Morehead Planetarium site, which had 6,018 voters, in the May 2008 primary.

“I don’t think this is just about Carrboro voters but also people from around the southern county,” Alderman Dan Coleman said. “That’s thousands of voters who are told to go elsewhere.”

The decision is primarily due to budget concerns, said board director Tracy Reams. She said closing the site would save about $10,000, most of which would have been spent on staff.

County voters may not be able to take full advantage of early voting’s benefits, including more manageable polls and shorter lines, Coleman said.

“When you’ve got voter turnout that’s small, you don’t constrain the opportunities and the locations and make the logistics more of an obstacle,” he said.

Ruby Sinreich, a Chapel Hill resident, said she is disappointed about the board’s decision.

“It’s going to be harder for people like me to vote,” she said. “Anything that makes it harder to vote is going to cause less people to vote.”

The Morehead site serves the students well but is less accessible for the off-campus community due to parking and location, Sinreich said.

“Carrboro is the most convenient site for everyone who doesn’t live on campus,” she said.

Several local officials have suggested alternatives to lessen the impact of the decision.

The Board of Elections should open additional early voting sites for shorter time periods on a rotational basis, giving more citizens an opportunity to vote throughout the day, Coleman said.

Carrboro representatives are uncertain whether their input will change the decision, said Alderman Randee Haven-O’Donnell.

“I don’t see that there’s anything that can’t be overcome and worked around,” she said.



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