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Dispute over long voting lines erupts at elections board meeting

Board member Debbie Dante (in green) and chair Clay Eddleman (right) argued over Dante's visits to polling places.

By Bill Moss, Published: October 31, 2024

Infuriated over long lines at three new early voting sites , local, state and national Republicans on Wedndesday demanded that the Henderson County elections board add more precinct judges, check-in stations and voting machines to speed things up.

The dispute over early voting sites post-Helene erupted in an open meeting on Wednesday afternoon when Board of Elections Chair Clay Eddleman and board member Debbie Dante tussled over Dante’s attempts to advocate for more service and Eddleman’s accusation that Dante was improperly interfering with polling site operations.

“It was totally uncalled for, for you to call me this morning to threaten me,” Dante told Eddleman in an argument that grew heated at times.

“I did not threaten you personally,” Eddleman responded. “I threatened to file a complaint and have you removed from the board immediately.”

The back-and-forth continued as Eddleman, a Democrat appointed to the chairmanship by Gov. Roy Cooper, interrogated Dante, one of two Republicans on the five-member board, about her actions Tuesday when she visited the Etowah polling site.

“I didn't go into the voting enclosure,” she said. “I waited outside, asked to speak to the judge. She came out and spoke to me. We spoke and I left.”

“And you were out there on whose behalf?” Eddleman asked. “What was the purpose of your being out there?”

“To see if there was a line,” Dante said. “I’m allowed to do that. I don’t need your permission to do that.”

Henderson was one of two counties affected when the Legislature enacted a bill last week forcing hurricane-impacted counties to offer at least one early voting site for every 30,000 registered voters. By that calculation, Henderson County had to open four. The elections board complied, adding new sites at the Etowah library, WNC Justice Academy in Edneyville and Fletcher Town Hall. Long lines formed at all three sites by mid-morning Tuesday and wait times ranged from one to three hours.

“Each site was given two machines, one check-in station,” Dante said. “In the middle of the day, more machines were sent out there. That alleviated the lines for a little bit, but not totally. Isn’t that our job as a board?”

By evening, the elections office had added machines to the sites to speed things up.

“We did deploy resources, not because our people asked us that work for us, and not because the board asked us, but because I was not going to let our voters go without,” elections Director Summer Heatherly told the board. “If I could give it to them, I'd give it to them, because that's my job. I made sure that they had those resources. I can't do anything else because there's nowhere else to put anything. And every year we do have lines.”

Rumors that Henderson County's early voting turnout is running well behind previous cycles are false, elections specialist Aaron Troutman told the board.

“We voted 37,503 — early voting in person — in 2016,” he said. “We were at 41,700, on the dot, early voting in 2020, and right now at the current pace we would exceed both.

"I want y'all to understand," he told the board, "that we have more resources out for early voting right now than Henderson County has ever had in my entire time,"

The dispute over the early voting sites drew a rebuke from the Republican National Committee, which sent a letter to the elections board Tuesday noting the long waits at the three new early voting sites.

“Additionally, we note that the Henderson County Board of Elections site, while equipped with 60 ‘Express Vote’ machines and experiencing no wait times, does not serve all voters effectively, as many prefer or need to vote closer to their residences, especially in light of the damage caused by the hurricane—which was the entire reason additional sites were needed,” Philip R. Thomas, the North Carolina Election Integrity Counsel.  “The county must provide an adequate amount of machines, workers and election supplies to make the new sites operate effectively and efficiently. Anything less is a dereliction of your duty.”

In an interview before Wednesday’s meeting, Michele Woodhouse, Republican chair for the 11th Congressional District, called the elections board's action “suppression of the rural vote.”

“I think Clay's tone and tenor towards Debbie was unacceptable,” Woodhouse said after the meeting. “That was aggressive and disrespectful. But I would also say we ended up in the pickle that we ended up in yesterday because Summer and Clay were very clear, when the Legislature directed them to open those sites, they were going to do the minimum thing. They created that problem.”