Wilmington, Carolina Beach officials ask for additional voting locations after email slip up

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - The New Hanover County Board of Elections’ controversial early voting plan, which includes just one polling location for elections this fall, was, in part, the result of an unread email.

Elections Director Rae Hunter-Havens sent an email to Wilmington’s City Clerk on June 3 asking if the city wanted additional early voting sites; the message was relayed to city council members on June 9. But nobody ever responded.

Hunter-Havens said in an email Wednesday that she would’ve included information from a response in her proposal about potential locations. Instead, only one site—the Northeast Library in Wilmington — was selected by the board.

“In addition to the required site, does the City of Wilmington wish to have an early voting site in the City of Wilmington? If so, what site do you recommend? Additional sites mean higher costs but provide greater voter access,” Hunter-Havens’ email to the city clerk reads in part. “Please provide official correspondence from your governing body regarding their preferences for early voting. Otherwise, the county board will decide based on their knowledge and experience. Please be advised that we cannot guarantee selection of any recommended site; however, those sites will be given high priority.”

The decision to only have one site triggered public outcry from both community members and elected officials, as to how it could impact turnout this fall. The elections board has since called a special meeting for August 6, where they’ll reconsider their early voting plan.

“Really, what happened is there was a missed email, effectively,” council member Luke Waddell said.

The news was first reported on Tuesday by WHQR.

It’s unclear how Hunter-Havens’ email was missed by council members. WECT reached out to every member; only Waddell and Salette Andrews responded. Both said they weren’t expecting the email, but Waddell said it’s up to council members to respond to messages they receive. He sent an email to council members earlier this week as a result, saying they needed to address the issue.

“For the city to neglect to respond is not OK,” he said. “I think we’ve rectified it before; there was a real issue.”

On Tuesday, council members sent a letter to the Board of Elections, asking for two additional early voting sites, one at Cape Fear Community College and one at the county’s Senior Resource Center. The Town of Carolina Beach has also asked for a voting site, Mayor Lynn Barbee confirmed. The four potential sites would align with locations in the 2023 municipal elections.

“Having a voting location in Carolina Beach serves everybody in the county,” Barbee said. “...We want to make it as easy as possible for people to vote.”

In addition to reaching voters in the southern part of the county, a voting spot in Carolina Beach would provide alternatives for people living in Wilmington, Barbee said. Carolina Beach’s town clerk similarly received an email from the elections board, which was then forwarded to the council, which decided to ask for a location. The elections board opted against it, but the town is now asking them to reconsider.

It’s unclear how much weight the elections board placed on the responses—or lack thereof—from municipalities. Hunter-Havens declined an interview Wednesday, and new board chair Jamie Getty didn’t respond to a request for comment.

While the board of elections has expressed concern over how this year’s county budget will impact its ability to smoothly run elections, funding for the additional polling locations comes from the municipalities. The City of Wilmington has budgeted nearly $244,000 for this year’s election, but is just awaiting word of how many sites there will be.

The deadline to submit early voting plans to the North Carolina Board of Elections is fast approaching – the county elections board has until next Friday, Aug. 8.

“The city’s lack of response appears to be merely an oversight on their end, but when we received requests for reconsideration, the NHC Board of Elections was happy to schedule a special meeting on Wednesday, August 6th,” Hunter-Havens wrote in an email to WECT. “The board is happy to look at any additional requests that are submitted prior to the August 6th meeting. But the August 6th meeting will be the absolute deadline.”