Elections board adds Pikeville voting site
By Steve Herring
Published in News on August 3, 2018 5:50 AM
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
The Wayne County Board of Elections votes Thursday to add a one-stop voting site in Pikeville. From left are Elections Director Dane Beavers Vice Chairman Bridgette C. Cowan;and Chairman Doug Wiggins.
The Wayne County Board of Elections voted unanimously Thursday afternoon to add a one-stop early voting site for the Nov. 6 general election at Harmony Masonic Lodge, at 108 Railroad St. in Pikeville.
Board member Bryan King, who was out of town, joined the meeting by phone.
The motion by Chairman Doug Wiggins to add the site also eliminates the site that was to have been at Mar-Mac Pointe, 200H Genoa Crossing Drive.
Final approval of the change rests with the N.C. Board of Elections and Ethics.
However, should the state disapprove the change, the board agreed to keep its original plan that includes the Mar-Mac site while adding Pikeville despite the added expense.
Wayne County Elections Director Dane Beavers said he does not think the state will disapprove the amended one-stop voting plan.
Wiggins said the local board had initially wanted a northern Wayne County location, but had been unable to locate one prior to the deadline to submit a plan to the state.
"We looked around Pikeville, spent quite a bit of time trying to find something up there," he said. "Because of the long hours and the parking, there are a lot of things that have to be considered -- it's hard for anyone to give up their building for that kind of time period.
"So we couldn't come to a conclusion on a location up there, and now that this location has been secured we still have time to amend our plan and want to go back with our original goal, which was to have a northern presence and a southern presence."
Wiggins said that Beavers had been contacted by people who thought they might know of a location in Pikeville, which resulted in the board taking another look at northern Wayne County.
Wayne County commissioners and County Manager Craig Honeycutt assisted in efforts to secure a site, he said.
Beavers said he and Commissioner Ray Mayo toured the site Thursday morning to ensure it met state requirements. It does, he said.
Wiggins said the board does not know what the state will do, hence the need for a secondary plan to add Pikeville while keeping Mar-Mac.
The secondary plan would cause the board to be over budget and would force it to look for a way to fix that, Wiggins said.
"If they don't want to grant that now, we will just have to live with the additional costs of another voting site," he said. "But it is a pretty expensive thing to have a voting site.
"The county has been good to us on the budget, but part of our job is to be good stewards of taxpayers' money -- provide what is necessary, but not overextend ourselves on the cost and just spend money for no reason."
Fremont Mayor Darron Flowers and Mayo, of the Pikeville community, were in the audience and thanked the board for its decision. Commissioner Ed Cromartie also attended.
Making voting sites convenient to voters is important, Mayo said.
"This is move is a concerted effort not only by myself and other commissioners and board of elections to select this site because it does make it much more convenient for voters in the northern part of the county," Mayo said.
"It is all about the citizens. It is not about commissioners or what party you are. This is about making voting sites convenient for the people we serve."
One-stop voting will begin Oct. 17, and be available at the Wayne County Public Library, 1001 E. Ash St.; Room 104 in the Walnut Building on the campus of Wayne Community College, 3000 Wayne Memorial Drive; the Mount Olive Train Depot, 110 W. Main St., Mount Olive; and now the Pikeville location.
Voting dates and times will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays Oct. 17 to 19, Oct. 22 to 26 and Oct. 29 to Nov. 2; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27; 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28; and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3.
For more information, call 919-731-1411, visit the website, waynevotes.com, or go by the office at 309 E. Chestnut St.