Brunswick County selected to improve elections through new national program

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) - The Brunswick County Board of Elections will participate in a national program aimed at improving the election process.

The county was named one of 10 centers for election excellence across the country which will make up the inaugural cohort of the Alliance for Election Excellence.

The alliance is funded through a collaboration of nonprofit organizations and is a nonpartisan effort that aims to bring together election officials and national experts to improve and innovate US elections.

As an inaugural member, the Brunswick County Board of Elections will meet with other elections offices across the country and national experts to improve how elections are conducted. It will also help set standards and expectations for future cohorts of counties participating in the program.

The program will run for two years and aims to better the voting process ahead of the 2024 presidential elections.

Brunswick County Elections Director Sara LaVere said her office was eager to participate in the program to improve elections locally and across the country. She said in her community, she hopes to find more efficient ways of running elections, like how the office trains poll workers.

“I think we run elections really well, I think we do a good job, but I think we also recognize there’s always room for improvement,” LaVere said. “There’s always something else to learn, and I hope that they are confident that us taking the initiative to be part of this – and it’s not just me, it’s my whole team had to sign onto this – that we really want to learn more.”

Forsyth County in North Carolina will also participate in the program, along with communities from California, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin.

LaVere said she’s already gotten questions from the community about the goals of the program. She wants voters to know the intention is to ensure elections across the country are fair, accurate and efficient.

“It’s really just a nonpartisan effort to make elections better, and that’s all it is. It’s not favoring one party or another or voters in big or small jurisdictions, it’s really about every voter and every jurisdiction in the state and in the nation,” LaVere said.

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