Politics Archives

Watauga County Republican Women’s Club Next Monthly Meeting is Wednesday, June 25

June 17, 2025 The Watauga County Republican Women’s Club (WCRWC) will have its next monthly meeting on Wednesday June 25 at the Dan’l Boone Inn, 130 Hardin Street, Boone. Lunch at 11:30 AM, with a meeting at noon. All interested in furthering the Republican cause in the High Country are welcome to attend and are invited to join. Call 828/832-6864 for more information. The WCRWC usually meets the last Wednesday of the month. See us on Facebook and learn more.

Watauga County Republican Party Spring Fling Cookout is on Saturday, May 3

April 18, 2025 The Watauga County Republican Party is having a Spring Fling Cookout on Saturday, May 3 at Hollar and Greene Produce Company, 230 Cabbage Row Drive, Boone at 4:00PM. Bring your family and friends for this free event. Greet your neighbors and Republican officials. All Republicans are welcome.

Watauga County Republican Women’s Club Next Monthly Meeting on Wednesday April 30

April 14, 2025 The Watauga County Republican Women’s Club (WCRWC) will have its next monthly meeting on Wednesday April 30 at Bocca Bistro, 276 Watauga Village Drive, Suite G, (Wal-Mart Shopping Center) Boone. Lunch at 11:00 AM (order off the menu) with meeting to follow at noon. All interested in furthering the Republican cause in the High Country are welcome to attend and are invited to join. Call 828/832-6864 for more information. The WCRWC usually meets the last Wednesday of the month. See us on Facebook and learn more.

April 7, 2025 Over 1400 people showed up for a planned protest march on Saturday in Downtown Boone that was organized locally by INDIVISIBLE Watauga, whose founder is Peter Nesbitt. The event was part of a peaceful, nationwide mobilization planned for April 5th. The theme of the march was “Hands Off.” The Boone march started behind the Turchin Center for Visual Arts and proceeded down the King Street sidewalk to an area beside the courthouse, about a half a mile away. The march started at 2:00 and and at one point marchers filled the sidewalk continuously for that whole half a mile. Marchers were encourage to bring signs to hold up during the march, and that they did.

Watauga GOP Republican Women Next Monthly Meeting is Wednesday March 26

March 17, 2025 The Watauga County Republican Women’s Club (WCRWC) will have its next monthly meeting on Wednesday March 26 at Bocca Bistro, 276 Watauga Village Drive, Suite G, (Wal-Mart Shopping Center) Boone. Lunch at 11:00 AM for (order off the menu) with meeting to follow at noon. All interested in furthering the Republican cause in the High Country are welcome to attend and are invited to join.

Watauga County Republican Party Annual Convention is Saturday March 1

February 17, 2025 The WATAUGA COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY will have its annual CONVENTION SATURDAY MARCH 1ST at the WATAUGA COUNTY COURTHOUSE – 842 W. KING STREET. Registration will begin at 8:30 AM, followed by Precinct Chairs meetings, with Convention convening at 10:00 AM. All registered Republicans are invited to attend.

Watauga County Republican Women’s Club Next Meeting is Tuesday January 28th

January 16, 2025. The Watauga County Republican Women’s Club (WCRWC) will have its first monthly meeting on Tuesday January 28th at Watauga County Agricultural Conference Center, 252 Poplar Grove Road, Boone. Bring your lunch and drink for the meeting which starts at noon. Should Watauga County schools change to remote learning due to the weather, the meeting will be canceled. All interested in furthering the Republican cause in the High Country are welcome to attend and are invited to join. Call 828/832-6864 for more information. The WCRWC usually meets the last Wednesday of the month. See us on Facebook and learn more.

Avery 2024 General Election Results….Tim Phillips, Junior Benfield, and Dennis Aldridge Win Contested County Commission Seats to Highlight Local Races

November 6,2024 Like most parts of the United States, voters turned out in masses in Avery County during the 2024 General Election, either casting ballots in early or absentee voting or at the county’s 11 precinct polling sites (consolidated from 19 to 11 after Hurricane Helene) on General Election Day, Tuesday, November 5. North Carolina State Board of Elections data showed that 9,439 of Avery’s 12,816 registered voters—a huge 73.65 percent–cast votes in this General Election. By Tim Gardner

October 18, 2024 As early voting got underway Thursday, October 17, in North Carolina, voters can cast ballots in-person, at any polling place in the county in which they are registered. They do not have to vote in-person at a specific precinct until General Election Day on Tuesday, November 5. Statewide, 419 early voting sites are open, covering all 100 counties. For voters who want to vote early but are not registered yet, same-day registration is an option during the early voting period, which ends on Saturday, November 2. Through that process, prospective voters can register at a polling place and then vote immediately after. By Tim Gardner

Absentee Ballots to Go Out to Military and Overseas Voters on Sept. 20, All Other Voters Who Requested Them on Sept. 24

September 18, 2024 All 100 county boards of elections must send absentee ballots to eligible military and overseas citizens who requested them for the 2024 general election on Friday, September 20, under a new schedule released by the State Board of Elections. The Board also set September 24 as the date to start sending absentee ballots to other voters who have requested ballots by mail, including those who use the Visually Impaired Portal (VIP) to request and return their ballots. This schedule ensures that North Carolina will meet the federal law requirement to distribute ballots to voters under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) by the 45th day before the election – September 21.

September 18, 2024 As the comment period on the U.S. Forest Service’s (USFS) National Old-Growth Amendment comes to a close on Friday, environmental groups from across North Carolina held a virtual press conference on Tuesday to bring attention to the issue and encourage the public to press the Forest Service for stronger protections for North Carolina’s old-growth forests. Due to decades of logging, very few of the state’s old-growth forests remain. These rare forests provide crucial habitat for endangered species and absorb more planet-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than younger trees. Yet, they continue to be at risk from logging. Based on a new analysis from the Southern Environmental Law Center and several conservation groups, including MountainTrue, environmental groups say that the Biden Administration’s proposed amendment fails to adequately protect old growth.

Watauga County Board of Elections to Conduct Pre-Election Testing of Voting Machines

September 18, 2024 The Watauga County Board of Elections will be conducting the pre-election testing of all voting machines starting on September 19, 2024. The testing process is open for public observation; due to limited space we ask that you schedule an appointment. Please call the office at ((828)265-8061 to reserve a time to observe the pre-election testing. County boards of elections are required by state election law to conduct a pre-election test, also known as Logic and Accuracy (L&A), of all voting systems to be used in each election.

State Employees Can Use Their Balance of Community Service Leave to Serve as Nonpartisan Poll Workers for Upcoming Election

September 18, 2024 State employees can use their balance of Community Service Leave — up to three days (24 hours) of paid time off — to volunteer with their County Board of Elections as nonpartisan poll workers during this fall’s election, the Office of State Human Resources announced today. “State employees are the backbone of North Carolina and we’re so grateful that they always step up to help when we need them,” said OSHR Director Barbara Gibson. “We hope the ability to use Community Service Leave for nonpartisan poll work encourages more state employees to serve with their local Board of Elections this year.”

Local Ballot Includes Five County, Four Judicial, One State Senate, One State House Seats and Two Referendums

September 17, 2024 The 2024 General Election will be held on Tuesday, November 5. Polls will open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m. According to the State Board of Elections, any voter in line at a polling place to vote after 7:30 p.m. may still vote.In addition to National and North Carolina statewide elections, Avery County voters can cast ballots in three county elections, including for three County Commission seats, Register of Deeds, and Soil & Water Conservation District Supervisor, as well as in six district elections, including for four Judicial seats, one State Senate seat, one State House seat, and one Town of Newland Referendum, the latter of which only registered voters who live within the town’s limits may vote. By Tim Gardner

Watauga County Republican Women’s Club Next Monthly Meeting in on September 25

September 16, 2024 The Watauga County Republican Women’s Club (WCRWC) will have its next monthly meeting on Wednesday September 25th at The Dan’l Boone Inn, 130 Hardin Street, Boone, NC. Lunch at 11:30 AM for $14, with meeting to follow at noon. All interested in furthering the Republican cause in the High Country are welcome to attend and are invited to join. Call 828/832-6864 for more information. The WCRWC usually meets the last Wednesday of the month. See us on Facebook and learn more.

September 13, 2024 The annual Watauga County Meet the Candidates Forum is scheduled for Monday, September 16 from 5:00-9:30 PM and will be broadcast live from the Appalachian Theatre in Downtown Boone. The event is co-hosted by the Boone Area & Blowing Rock Chambers of Commerce. This event is free and open to the public. In order to maintain decorum, political literature and signage will be not be allowed in the room. For those unable to attend in person, this event will be broadcast live, in its entirety, on YouTube, WATA (1450 AM / 96.5 FM), and the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce website. Archives of each segment of the forum will be made available on Boone Area Chamber of Commerce platforms following the event.

CISA & FBI Public Service Announcement – False Claims Of Hacking Voter Information

September 13, 2024 The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) are issuing this announcement to raise awareness of attempts to undermine public confidence in the security of U.S. election infrastructure through the spread of disinformation falsely claiming that cyberattacks compromised U.S. voter registration databases.

September 11, 2024 County boards of elections in North Carolina are now working to design and print new ballots for the 2024 general election without the We The People Party’s presidential and vice presidential candidates on them, following a state court decision. The N.C. Supreme Court, in a 4–3 ruling late Monday, required election officials to remove the We The People party line from the presidential contest on the ballot, including the party’s presidential nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and vice-presidential nominee, Nicole Shanahan. County boards of elections were prepared to send ballots to voters late last week, which is the state law deadline to begin absentee voting. With the court decision, revised ballots will now be printed and delivered to eligible voters who have requested an absentee ballot as soon as they are available, which is expected to occur in the next couple weeks.

Sample Ballots for November Watauga Voters

September 4, 2024 Attached are the sample ballots for the upcoming November 5, 2024 election. Please remember that there are different ballots depending on where the voter lives.

8 Reminders About Voter Registration in NC from the State Board of Elections

August 28, 2024 Presidential election years, like 2024, are busy times for voter registrations in North Carolina. Many voter registration drives are being conducted across the state this year. The State Board of Elections offers the following eight tips and reminders to voters and prospective voters during this time:

NC State Board of Elections Recognizes Justice For All as Official Political Party in NC

August 22, 2024 The State Board of Elections on Tuesday recognized the Justice For All Party as an official political party in the state. The decision came in response to a court order. Recognition of Justice for All means voters now have nine choices of party affiliation when registering to vote or updating an existing registration. Voters may register with the Constitution, Democratic, Green, Justice For All, Libertarian, No Labels, Republican, or We The People parties, or they can register as unaffiliated.

NC State Board of Elections Approves 12 Additional IDs for Voting in 2024

August 15, 2024 The State Board of Elections has approved 12 additional student and government employee identification cards to be used for voting purposes in North Carolina for the 2024 general election. The newly approved IDs, listed in this story, are in addition to the more than 120 student and employee IDs already approved for voting purposes in 2024. The full list of acceptable IDs for voting in North Carolina is available at BringItNC.gov.

Blowing Rock’s Annual “State of the Town” Event is Thursday, August 15th at 5:30 p.m.

August 14, 2024 The Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce’s Community and Government Committee in partnership with the Town of Blowing Rock invite all residents and business owners to attend the annual State of the Town event Thursday, August 15th at 5:30 pm at the Blowing Rock Art & History Museum (BRAHM) in the Community Meeting Room. The event will be recorded for anyone who cannot attend. The link to the You Tube video can be found on the Chamber’s website www.LoveBlowingRock.com or the Town of Blowing Rock’s website www.TownofBlowingRock.com

The North Carolina Network for Fair, Safe, and Secure Elections Comes to Boone August 21st

August 8, 2024 On Wednesday, August 21st The North Carolina Network for Fair, Safe and Secure Elections will host the next town hall of the 2024 election cycle in Boone, NC. This event is part of a series that will feature dozens of events across the state to address public concerns around voting in North Carolina and to strengthen civil discourse. This event will be hosted at Appalachian State University in the Parkway Ballroom at the Plemmons Student Union from 6:30-8:00 PM. It will be moderated by Retired Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr. The panel will also feature Watauga County’s Elections Director, Matt Snyder, as well as Board of Elections Member Leta Councill from Watauga County, Carolyn Bunker from Guilford County, and former member of the Watauga County Board of Elections, Four Eggers.

State Board of Elections Recognizes We The People as Official NC Political Party

July 17, 2024 Raleigh, NC — The State Board of Elections on Tuesday recognized the We The People Party of North Carolina as an official political party in the state. Recognition of this party means voters now have eight choices of party affiliation when registering to vote or updating an existing registration. Voters may register with the Constitution, Democratic, Green, Libertarian, No Labels, Republican, or We The People parties, or they can register as unaffiliated. This recognition also means that voters currently registered with a different political party or as unaffiliated may switch their affiliation to the We The People Party if they wish. For information on how to do that, see Updating Registration.

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