GOP-Controlled Watauga Elections Board Denies Early Voting Site on App State Campus

Watauga County Board of Elections Meeting — Nancy Owen, the new Republican member on the Watauga County Board of Elections, is sworn in on Tuesday. Photos by Lonnie Webster

By Jesse Wood

On Tuesday, the Watauga County Board of Elections approved an early voting plan that doesn’t include a one-stop site on the campus of Appalachian State University, according to Watauga County Board of Elections Director Matt Snyder.

The vote was 2-1 with Republicans Bill Aceto and Nancy Owen, the replacement for Luke Eggers, who resigned because a relative was running for office, voted for the majority plan that doesn’t include a one-stop site on ASU.

Stella Anderson, the lone Democrat, advocated for a plan on the campus of ASU.

Under the majority plan, early voting locations will be at the Watauga County Administration Building in downtown Boone, the Western Watauga Community Center in Cove Creek, the Meat Camp Fire Department, Deep Gap Fire Department and the Blowing Rock Town Hall.

Snyder said that the minority and majority plans essentially included the same locations and hours – minus, of course, the ASU site. Since the vote wasn’t unanimous, Snyder said that the State Board of Elections will review and vote on the non-unanimous plans in the next week or two.

Since the GOP took over the Board of Elections after Gov. Pat McCrory was elected, the Republicans have denied any early voting sites on the college campus.

Below are the early voting hours and dates per site:

Watauga Admin Bldg: