Board of Elections Archives

State Elections Board To Hear Watauga Board Members Petition for Early Voting Sites for Primary Monday

Members of the Watauga County Board of Elections will state their case for early voting sites in the May primary to the State Board of Elections on Monday, March 24. Because the early-voting plan that received the majority of the vote by Republicans at a March 5 meeting wasn’t unanimous, the board members must petition the State Board of Elections, which also has a Republican majority, with their respective plans.
BY JESSE WOOD

No Early Voting on ASU Campus for May Primary, Watauga Election Board Decides in 2-1 Vote Wednesday

Just like the general election last November, no early voting will take place on the campus of Appalachian State University during the upcoming primary on May 6.
BY JESSE WOOD

Drop-in Session Held Monday Night To Discuss Potential Early Voting Sites for the Primary Election in May

Organized by the Republican members of the Watauga County Board of Elections, a drop-in session was held in downtown Boone on Monday night to discuss potential early voting sites in Watauga County for the primary election in May.
BY JESSE WOOD

Don’t Forget: Watauga Board of Elections One-Stop Proposals Public Workshop Scheduled for Monday

In the first meeting since the bi-partisan mediation sessions with two members on the State Board of Elections held in recent weeks, the Watauga County Board of Elections trio played nice with each other on Monday evening and listened to the public for 15 minutes at the end of the meeting. Chair Luke Eggers and Secretary Bill Aceto, the Republican members on the board, offered little resistance on some matters that, in the past, they had been steadfast against in their roughly six-month tenure on the board.
BY JESSE WOOD
Photo by Lonnie Webster

SBOE Chairman Slams Watauga Board of Elections Friday, Rejects Democrats’ Petition To Oust Eggers, Aceto

The State Board of Elections rejected the petition to oust Republicans Bill Aceto and Luke Eggers from the Watauga County Board of Elections at a meeting on Friday, according to the complainants and WRAL.com.
BY JESSE WOOD

Undisclosed Memo Elicits Strong Response From Watauga BOE Member, Hodges Contacts Attorney

Another Watauga County Board of Elections meeting that consisted of only routine business such as new registrations and the approval of absentee ballots on the agenda, isn’t so routine – as Monday’s meeting proved to be. In the middle of the meeting, Elections Director Jane Ann Hodges asked Chair Luke Eggers if she could hand a memo to Board Member Kathleen Campbell and Secretary Bill Aceto and then proceeded to hand out the memo.
BY JESSE WOOD

Watauga’s GOP BOE Members Decline To Heed Advice of Veteran Elections Officials on Legends Transfer Station

Once again, the Republican board members on the Watauga County Board of Elections declined to heed the advice of 27-year veteran Elections Director Jane Ann Hodges and, more recently, Don Wright, general counsel for the State Board of Elections, at Tuesday’s board meeting inside the Watauga County Courthouse. This time around the issue regards the process of continuing a transfer station at the Legends polling precinct on the campus of ASU, which has occurred at the Boone 2 polling location for at least the past seven years, according to an Oct. 15 email exchange between Hodges and Wright that was obtained through a public records request.
BY JESSE WOOD
Photo by Jesse Wood

Three Democrats File Second Petition With SBOE, This One Requests Hearing, Subpoenas for Watauga Officials

On Thursday afternoon, three local Democrats filed a petition requesting that the State Board of Elections issue subpoenas to Watauga Attorney Four Eggers, Watauga Republican Party Chair Anne-Marie Yates, Watauga Elections Director Jane Ann Hodges and Watauga Clerk of Court of Court Diane Deal.
BY JESSE WOOD

Watauga BOE Member Aceto Files Response With State Board After Complaint Filed Seeking His Removal

Two days after local Democrats filed a complaint, seeking the removal of two Republican members from the Watauga County Board of Elections for a number of alleged actions, Board Member Bill Aceto has a filed a response to the complaint with the State Board of Elections.
BY JESSE WOOD

Formal Complaint Filed With SBOE for Removal of Republicans Eggers, Aceto From Watauga Elections Board

Update: A formal complaint for the removal of two Republican board members from the Watauga County Board of Elections was filed with the State Board of Elections on Tuesday afternoon by three local Democrats: Stella Anderson, Jesse Presnell and Ian O’Keefe.
BY JESSE WOOD

State Board of Elections Deems Legends an Acceptable Polling Precinct for the Upcoming Municipal Elections

The State Board of Elections has approved Legends as a polling place for the upcoming municipal elections in Boone in November, according to a letter from Executive Director Kim Strach to the Watauga County Board of Elections members and staff.
BY JESSE WOOD

Winston-Salem Journal: Watauga Attorney Four Eggers – Not Brother Luke – ‘Author’ of Elections Resolutions

Sept. 16, 2013. The article is titled: “One county attorney, two hats: Documents show attorney as ‘author’ behind key resolutions.” Four Eggers is the current attorney for Watauga County and the towns of Beech Mountain and Banner Elk. Four Eggers, who was the local party’s first choice for the Watauga County Board of Elections, was an outgoing member of the board earlier this year.
BY JESSE WOOD

Searching For Elusive ‘Common Ground’ on Watauga County BOE, Legends To Be Precinct on ASU Campus

Sept. 4, 2013. After Tuesday’s admonishing from the State Board of Elections about appearing on YouTube and the handling of business during the initial meetings as a trio, the Watauga County Board of Elections meeting on Wednesday featured more pleasantries – although there was still much disagreement. “I too want to find common ground,” Chair Luke Eggers, one of the two Republican members on the local board.
BY JESSE WOOD

State Board of Elections Upholds Elimination of ASU Early Voting Site, See Lonnie Webster Photos of Meeting

Sept. 4, 2013. After listening to all three members of the Watauga County Board of Elections and Elections Director Jane Ann Hodges on Tuesday afternoon, the State Board of Elections, in a 4-1 vote, upheld the move by Republican board members Chair Luke Eggers and Secretary Bill Aceto to eliminate the early voting site on the campus of ASU for the 2013 municipal elections in November.
BY JESSE WOOD

Watauga Elections Board To Consider Legends Polling Place, Backtracking on Combining Three Boone Precincts

Sept. 2, 2013. At the next Watauga County Board of Elections meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 4, the board will consider withdrawing a resolution that combines three Boone voting precincts into one polling place and adopting a different resolution that calls for Legends on the campus of ASU to become the polling precinct on the college instead of the Plemmons Student Union.
BY JESSE WOOD

Members of WCDP Organizing Rides To State BOE Tuesday Meeting to ‘Speak, Stand Up for Voting Rights’

Sept. 2, 2013. Ian O’Keefe and Jesse Presnell of the Watauga County Democratic Party are organizing rides for folks to travel to the State Board of Elections meeting Raleigh on Tuesday, Sept. 3, to “speak up and stand up for the voting rights of Boone residents,” according to a Facebook post, adding that “the local board has gone too far and become too radical.”
BY JESSE WOOD

State Board To Hear Appeal of New Early Voting Plan For Upcoming Municipal Elections in Watauga on Sept. 3

Aug. 30, 2013. The State Board of Elections will meet on Tuesday, Sept. 3, at 1 p.m. in Raleigh to hear, among other agenda items, an appeal of the one-stop plan the Republican-led Watauga County Board of Elections passed on Aug. 12 that eliminated early voting on the campus of Appalachian State University.
BY JESSE WOOD

ASU Student President G. Dylan Russell Highlights Concerns of Watauga BOE, UNC-ASG Resolution

Aug. 30, 2013. The Student Body President of Appalachian State University G. Dylan Russell highlights his concerns on Watauga County Board of Election’s decision to remove voting from our campus. Also inside is a resolution that was passed by the Association of Student Government (UNC ASG), a group of delegates from all seventeen UNC-System schools. The UNC-ASG supports all students’ rights to actively and easily participate in government where they attend school.

Boone Town Council Adopts Resolution Condemning Recent Actions Taken by Watauga Board of Elections

Aug. 23, 2013. The Boone Town Council adopted a resolution condemning the recent actions taken by the two Republican members of the Watauga County Board of Elections. “The changes forced through and proposed by a majority of the new members of the Board of Elections serve no legitimate public purpose and appear to be motivated by extreme partisanship and anti-democratic animus despite the fact that Boone municipal elections are non-partisan,” a portion of the resolution reads.
BY JESSE WOOD

Film Crew for ‘The Rachel Maddow Show’ in Boone Wednesday, To Feature BOE Controversies Thursday

Aug. 22, 2013. “The Rachel Maddow Show” will once again feature the controversies swirling around the Watauga County Board of Elections on Thursday, Aug. 22, at 9 p.m. ET. Liberal host Rachel Maddow will broadcast live from Elizabeth City, which is home to the historically black Elizabeth City State University, where the Pasquotank County Board of Elections barred a senior for running for city council, ruling that his campus address couldn’t be used to establish local residency.
BY JESSE WOOD

Read Original Drafted Minutes From Aug. 12 Watauga Elections Board Meeting & Adopted ‘Condensed’ Version

Aug. 22, 2013. The Aug. 12 minutes were reduced from seven pages to four pages. Campbell’s lengthy admonishing of the two Republican members of the board was shortened from nearly 800 words to 233 words.
BY JESSE WOOD

Civitas Weighs in on Watauga Elections Board Debate: ‘The Way We Were – Troubled Culture of N.C. Elections’

Aug. 21, 2013. The Civitas Institute, which has a mission to “facilitate the implementation of conservative policy solutions to improve the lives of all North Carolinians,” according to its website, weighed in on the controversial Watauga County Board of Elections meetings in a article posted on Tuesday. The title of the article is “The Way We Were – The Troubled Culture of North Carolina Elections.”
BY JESSE WOOD

ASU College Republicans on Loss of Campus Voting Site: ‘Simple Change’ Won’t Prevent Students From Voting

Aug. 20, 2013. While those in opposition were outraged with the decision, which still leaves a polling precinct within walking distance to the college campus, Appalachian State College Republican Chairwoman Caroline Hartman viewed the new measures the Watauga County Board of Elections adopted recently as a “simple change” that “will in no way keep students from voting.”
BY JESSE WOOD

Routine Business Divides Watauga County Board of Elections Members Along Party Lines at Meeting Tuesday

Aug. 20, 2013. While Tuesday’s Watauga County Board of Elections meeting consisted of only two routine business items – approval of minutes from the contentious Aug. 12 meeting and appointment of precinct officials – the meeting still drew divisive votes along party lines.
BY JESSE WOOD

Watauga Board of Elections Members Campbell and Eggers Pen Letters To State Board of Elections Director

Aug. 20, 2013. Because the vote to adopt a new one-stop implementation plan, which narrowed the early voting polling places from ASU, Foscoe and the Watauga County Courthouse to only Watauga County Board of Commissioners boardroom on King Street, was not unanimous, members on the county board of elections may petition the State Board of Elections to adopt the plan or consider an alternative plan from another board member.
BY JESSE WOOD

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