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Early Voting at App State ‘A Go’ Even Though N.C. Supreme Court Steps In To Allow Stay Against Campus Site

A sandwich board advertises early voting at ASU on Thursday morning. Photo by Jesse Wood
A sandwich board advertises early voting at ASU on Thursday morning. Photo by Jesse Wood

By Jesse Wood

Oct. 22, 2014. Depending on your political affiliation, the past few months – and especially the last couple of hours – went like this: No early voting on ASU! Early voting on ASU! No early voting on ASU! And finally early voting on ASU! – unless the State Board of Elections schedules a last-minute meeting to rescind ASU early voting, which is just hours away.

Minutes after the State Board of Elections selected an early-voting site on the campus of Appalachian State University for the general election on Wednesday afternoon, the N.C. Supreme Court stepped in and allowed a stay against an early-voting site on the college campus.

“It happened almost immediately,” said Ian O’Keefe, a member of the Watauga County Democratic Party.

The State Board of Elections held a special meeting at 4 p.m. on Wednesday to select the early-voting site. The board members unanimously chose the Price Lake Room in the Plemmons Student Union from among multiple recommendations from ASU officials and members of the Watauga County Board of Elections.

Enthusiasm of the local Democrats quickly dissipated initially as news spread that the N.C. Supreme Court had taken up the issue and allowed a stay against an early-voting site on the campus, which would mean that the State Board of Elections wasn’t legally bound to have an early-voting site on the campus and that the constitutional matter of no early voting at ASU could be decided by the courts after the general election.

“I am pretty disappointed … I think the Supreme Court decided to do something against the will of the people, and the will of this county, and they are actively engaging in voter suppression, and with the highest court in our state to be involved in that is disappointing,” O’Keefe said minutes after the N.C. Supreme Court ruling. “I think they should be ashamed of themselves, and their actions do not warrant their position.”

However, State Board of Elections spokesman Josh Lawson noted that the N.C. Supreme Court’s ruling didn’t void the State Board of Elections decision to have an early voting site on the campus of Appalachian State University.

“The State Board can adopt a new voting plan for a county really at any time,” Lawson said, adding that the State Board of Elections made the unanimous decision moments before the N.C. Supreme Court’s stay because it thought it was “under legal requirements” to do so.

“Unless the State Board were to meet again and establish a new plan for the county, the plan approved unanimously for [Watauga by the SBOE on Wednesday] stands,” Lawson said.

He added that as of 6 p.m. on Wednesday, SBOE Chair Josh Howard hadn’t called a new meeting to adopt a new plan for Watauga County.

Early voting takes place in less than 14 hours – as of 6 p.m. – when High Country Press talked to Lawson.

Months of Battle over ASU Early Voting Site

Early voting on the campus of ASU for this upcoming election has been an ongoing battle for months now.

It began in July, when the Republican majority on the Watauga County Board of Elections voted to exclude an early voting site on the campus of ASU. Because the vote wasn’t unanimous – with Democrat Kathleen Campbell opposing any plan without an early-voting site at ASU – the matter went before the State Board of Elections, which also has a Republican majority.

The SBOE adopted the majority plan in a 4-1 vote in August.

In September, a group of local Democrats – Stella Anderson, Pam Williamson, Marianne Clawson, Alaina Doyle, Lauren Larue Joyner, Ian O’Keefe and David Sabbaugh – filed a lawsuit against the State Board of Elections seeking a judicial review of the adopted plan it claimed was discriminatory to college-aged voters and violated the state and federal constitutions.

Earlier this month, a judge in Wake County Superior Court granted an expedited review of the plan in light of upcoming election just around the corner. Then last week, Wake County Superior Court Judge Donald Stephens made his order, remanding the plan back to the SBOE and instructing the state board to include a one-stop site on the college campus.

Then, the N.C. Attorney General’s Office, which is representing the SBOE, requested that the courts – the N.C. Supreme Court and the N.C. Court of Appeals – issue a stay of the Stephens’ order. The N.C. Court of Appeals issued an emergency temporary stay.

Then last night – Tuesday, Oct. 21 – the N.C. Court of Appeals lifted the stay, and the State Board of Elections scheduled an emergency meeting to select an early-voting site on the campus of ASU on Wednesday.

But even then, an early-voting site on campus was still up in the air because the State Board of Elections had two options: throw in the towel and decide where on campus an early-voting site would be located or give the N.C. Supreme Court an opportunity to weigh in on the issue.

As SBOE spokesman Josh Lawson wrote in an email late Tuesday, “Supreme Court petition is still active [however] the Attorney General’s office has not filed any additional appellate petitions before the Supreme Court.”

Some Confusion Late Wednesday

At about 5 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, there still seemed to be some confusion and conflicting reports.

Watauga County Board of Elections Director Jane Ann Hodges said that she had just gotten off of the phone with an official at the State Board of Elections office – after the N.C. Supreme Court allowed the stay.

Hodges said that while she was told that the SBOE was aware of the N.C. Supreme Court’s ruling, the official at the SBOE said, “[Early voting site at Price Lake Room] was still a go.” Hodges mentioned that this would be the case unless she was notified otherwise.

At that time Lawson, a spokesman for the SBOE hadn’t immediately responded to questions.

Upon hearing the N.C. Supreme Court ruling, Watauga County Board of Elections Secretary Bill Aceto, a Republican who voted against early voting on campus, said, “Sounds like we have a stay, which I think is a good thing based on the timing. It would have been very difficult to mobilize the troops, but we would have done it. [The N.C. Supreme Court’s stay] is good for the citizens of Watauga County.”

Aceto hadn’t yet talked to any staff with the Watauga County Board of Elections or State Board of Elections.

Early voting starts at 8 a.m. on Thursday.

Early Voting Hours

Watauga County Administration Building

  • Thursday, Oct. 23, at 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Friday, Oct. 24, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Monday, Oct. 27 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Tuesday, Oct. 28 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Wednesday, Oct. 29 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Thursday, Oct. 30 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Friday, Oct. 31 – 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Saturday, Nov. 1 – 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

ASU Student Union 

  • Thursday, Oct. 23 – 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Friday, Oct. 24 – 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Monday, Oct. 27 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Tuesday, Oct. 28 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Wednesday, Oct. 29 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Thursday, Oct. 30 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Friday, Oct. 31 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Saturday, Nov. 1 – 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Times for All Other Voting Sites:

Blowing Rock Town Hall, Deep Gap VFD, Meat Camp VFD and Western Watauga Community Center

  • Thursday, Oct. 23 – 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Friday, Oct. 24 – 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Monday, Oct. 27 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Tuesday, Oct. 28 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Wednesday, Oct. 29 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Thursday, Oct. 30 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Friday, Oct. 31 – 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Saturday, Nov. 1 – 8 to 1 p.m.