News

Long lines form as three more early voting sites open

Voters waited for 1-2 hours to cast their ballots at Fletcher Town Hall, one of three early voting sites that that opened Tuesday.

By Bill Moss, Published: October 29, 2024

EDNEYVILLE — Stout-hearted voters at the WNC Justice Academy waited in the cool morning air for the doors to open on Tuesday, the first day of early voting at the apple country site.

At 8 o’clock a precinct judge ushered them in. Although the warm gym provided comfort, the waiting was not over.

First, precinct workers realized that the machine that scans ballots was not working. In a workaround, elections officials directed voters to insert their ballots into a slot in the machine, to be scanned later. Because there was only one voting station, the line was slow moving, unlike the efficient and well-stocked Board of Elections, which until Tuesday morning had been the only early voting site.

In an emergency meeting on Friday, the Henderson County Board of Elections added the Edneyville site and two others — Etowah library and Fletcher Town Hall — after the state Legislature forced Henderson and one other mountain county to expand early voting.

The turnout on Tuesday appeared to confirm a demand for voting outposts in the communities a few miles from the center city. By mid-day, long lines had formed at the new sites in Edneyville, Etowah and Fletcher, with some voters waiting two hours and lines stretching around buildings.

Kim Lance, a Republican greeter who was handing out campaign fliers, said when she went on duty at 4:30 a voter who was leaving said she had gotten in line at 3.

‘This is a popup site’

Outside the old Edneyville High School gym at daybreak, Democratic and Republican activists were planting campaign signs, setting up tables and stacking campaign fliers.

“Being a greeter is mostly about helping ensure a positive voting experience for everyone who comes through here, no matter what party they’re affiliated with, and just bringing those positive vibes,” said Amy Bess Cook, who was working the Democratic side. “Of course, we’re affiliated with a party, we want people to vote a certain way, but we’re not campaigning.  I’m not pushing candidates on people.”

Active campaigning for candidates was confined to a zone even farther away than the sidewalk outside the gym.

“At the Board of Elections that’s really well drawn out. There are like spray-painted lines all over the place to show you,” Cook said. “But here we’re just really making it up as we go along. This is a popup site, right?”

‘We can say we had a part in it’

Not far away, Rebecca Moon wore a red MAGA hat as she geared up to greet voters and hand out green sheets headlined “Conservative Voter Guide 2024,” which endorsed Republican candidates in every race from president to Saluda’s city commission.

“Why? Because I feel like it’s my patriot duty to get out here and to do my part,” Moon said. “I know that I’m only one person but I always feel that one plus one equals a lot, and if we all get out here and do our duty — whatever the outcome would be when we have this election — we can say that we had a part in it. I just feel like it’s my patriot duty to do this to help our party.”

Inside the gym, Karlie Justus Marlow, a Democratic Party poll observer, waited for the voting to begin.

“Everything was kind of ramping up over the summer” when she volunteered to help with the party’s efforts, she said. “I’ve done a variety of things. I mostly volunteered on marketing and communications.”

But when volunteer coordinators emphasized the need for greeters and observers during early voting and on Election Day, Marlow said yes.

“I think a lot of it is just making sure people can vote,” she said of her observer role. “If they don’t have an ID, making sure they know they can do provisional.”

Voter David Marlow, who happened to be Karlie’s brother-in-law, was last in line among a dozen or so voters. He applauded the decision by the state to force the county to add three early voting sites. He planned to vote “for common sense,” which he said would be “majority Republican.”

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Early voting sites are the Board of Elections, 75 E. Central St.; WNC Justice Academy, 234 St. Paul’s Road, Edneyville; Etowah Library, 101 Brickyard Road; and Fletcher Town Hall, 300 Cane Creek Road. Hours are 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2.