Board of Elections debates on-campus voting site

The Orange County Board of Elections is looking for a new on-campus UNC voting site for next year’s elections after a curbside voting system failed to appease year-round Chapel Hill residents.

Members of the board debated the feasibility of keeping the Rams Head Dining Hall site as a viable voting location during its meeting Tuesday.

During election season, a curbside voter can pull up to the parking deck under Rams Head, and parking attendants notify voting officials that the voter is there. Then, the voting officials bring the voter a ballot. Voting sites are required to have this kind of curbside voting for handicapped voters.

But Jamie Cox, the board’s secretary, said the curbside voting system at Rams Head wastes too much time for it to remain a practical voting site for the precinct.

“The only issue with our on-campus voting site is the curbside service and making sure it meets everyone’s needs,” Cox said. “It’s difficult with the current system in place.”

The board already approved the use of Rams Head for the 2013 municipal elections, but Cox said they are going to consider new campus sites for the elections in 2014.

“Right now, I think we need another location,” said Kathy Knight, the chairwoman of the board. “And it needs to be something that is also conducive to students.”

The board is soliciting feedback from students and residents for adequate alternative sites on or near campus.

Student Body President Christy Lambden said he attended Tuesday’s meeting after fielding concerns that the board might eliminate early voting on campus.

“I think it’s great that the board has a commitment to making sure students have a place to vote that’s accessible,” he said, adding that easy access for student voters and easy access for town voters at an early voting site do not have to be mutually exclusive.

There are 44 voting precincts in Orange County, and UNC’s campus is divided between several precincts.

Ellie Kinnaird, who resigned from the N.C. Senate Monday, said she was happy that it seemed like the board wanted to maintain an on-campus voting site.

“I think that went really well for us,” said Kinnaird, who left her position in the Senate to pursue a grassroots voting project.

Knight said she has fielded concerns from people who have followed the news that county Boards of Election are eliminating voting options for college students across the state.

Earlier this month the Watauga County Board of Elections eliminated the early voting site and an election-day polling precinct on the campus of Appalachian State University.

The Pasquotank County Board of Elections also voted to stop an Elizabeth City State University senior from running for city council because his on-campus address doesn’t establish residency.

Knight said she didn’t want to get into a discussion about the Watauga and Pasquotank Boards of Election because a discussion about moving the voting site completely off campus is “far down the road.”

“This board is nonpartisan, and that’s what we strive to be,” Knight said.

State & National Editor Madeline Will contributed reporting.

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