City officials and the Halifax County Board of Elections Office have confirmed the Roanoke Rapids Public Library will be used in the May 8 primary for voters who typically cast their ballots at the Neighborhood Resource Center on Jackson Street. All other city precincts during the May 8 primary will remain unaltered.
The resource center, which has been the traditional site for early or what is called one-stop voting, will be unavailable as a precinct leading up to the primary.
Early voting schedule
Early voting is scheduled to begin April 19 and 20 at the Halifax County Cooperative Agriculture Building on Ferrell Lane in Halifax from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and then April 23 through April 27 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
It then will run April 30 through May 4 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
There will be one Saturday for voting on May 5 from 8:30 a.m.to 1 p.m.
Additional sites include First Baptist Church at 577 West Franklin Street in Enfield; Halifax Community College in rooms 401 A and 401 B and Scotland Neck Town Hall at 1310 Main Street.
Early voting at the additional sites runs April 30 through May 4 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a Saturday, May 5 date, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Decision on center’s unavailability
The decision leading to the resource center not being available is tied to a decision allowing NCWorks to use the building until a new home is finished, both city officials and Halifax County Board of Elections Supervisor Kristin Scott have said.
Further complicating the matter is the departure through resignation of the Republican member of the county board of elections, Scott confirmed in a recent interview.
Roanoke Rapids has traditionally seen the highest voter turnout during the early or one-stop voting period, city and election officials have said.
At a press briefing today, Roanoke Rapids City Manager Joseph Scherer said the issue came up in December when NCWorks approached the city about its current location at Becker Village Mall. “They were having major working conditions and health issues with their office in the mall and they made arrangements to have their state office outfit their new offices.”
In the meantime, Scherer said, the agency asked whether they could use the Jackson Street resource center “for a few months, for four to five months, at least until they got their new offices outfitted.”
The agency had used the resource center in the past and still had some of its internet and printer connections located there. “So at the time I thought four or five months, six months at worst, no problem,” Scherer said. “It won’t interfere with the fall election so I agreed to go ahead and rent them a temporary space.”
It wasn’t until late February or March one of the precinct workers mentioned to him there was a primary. “I had not given that any consideration at the time there was going to be a primary. I was just more concerned about the general elections.”
Scherer said he contacted the county board of elections to discuss the problem. “I offered to help them find another building they could use.”
The buildings suggested included Fire Station 2 and the library. “They were really only wanting to use the Kirkwood Adams Civic Center, that’s really what they were wanting,” Scherer said.
However, because events were already booked the last two days, the city couldn’t make a full offer, he said. “They decided to find another location and left it at that. It was never put to me that it was my responsibility to find them a place in town. As far as I know there’s no general statute or anything that says that. They’ve used that building in the past but I cannot find any record where we had a formal contract.”
Said Scherer: “I want to make sure it’s understood that in no way did the city cause a problem here. I don’t feel like we are at fault in any particular way of Roanoke Rapids not having an early voting location.”
Statutory authority
City Attorney Gilbert Chichester said there is no statutory authority he could find making it the city’s responsibility to locate or provide an alternate site.
Chichester said, “I think it would be important to voters to be able to have a place in Roanoke Rapids and for that reason I have talked with attorneys at the state election board to look into alternatives of being able to still have the early voting in Roanoke Rapids.”
The loss of the one county board of election member, who resigned following the vote to use the college, has complicated the matter, Chichester said.
Scott said Republican Jane Watson was the board member who resigned.
Said Chichester, “The effect of that member resigning means that the remaining two members cannot take a vote to make a decision because they can’t take a vote with just two members. That’s just the way it is. In talking with the local board, their position is even if they wanted to move it back to Roanoke Rapids they can’t do it because they can’t take a vote with just two members.”
Chichester said he has placed calls to the state board and looked into the possibility of having another member placed on the county board.
However, the city’s attorney said, the state board had a meeting on Wednesday and the only action they could take was to seat an unaffiliated member on the state board. “Joe and myself have looked at this every way in the world. We looked at getting members placed and it can’t be done right now.”
While a 2014 proposed agreement was found at the board office in Halifax regarding use of the resource center, that document was never signed, Chichester said. It was unclear why it wasn’t signed.
Scott said she couldn’t find a signed agreement but said today she is willing to submit it once a full county board is in place.
Chichester said the city would be willing to negotiate an agreement for the city of Roanoke Rapids to provide a location for early voting
Said Chichester: “Absent getting the board back up to staff or having an agreement, the likelihood of a successful legal action is very low in my opinion. I’m sure there’ll be steps taken to make sure this doesn’t happen in the future.”
The attorney said in his research he hasn’t found anything that makes it the city’s responsibility to provide a location. “That’s with the election board. The city would be happy to provide a location, the city manager would be happy to make other locations in the city of Roanoke Rapids available.”
Said Scherer: “I have no problem with them using the resource building for early voting. It was just a short notice need by another state agency and I was unaware for any need for primary voting locations. I was making sure it would be available in the fall.”
Scott’s response
Said Scott in the recent interview, “My personal view is that it would be logical to have a precinct in Roanoke Rapids but by law it’s not required to have one there.”
She said this evening there are nominations in place to get the local board up to four members instead of three where it has been the past. That would eventually mean two Democrats and two Republicans on the local board.
Scott said, referring to Kirkwood Adams, “I don’t think the civic center would have worked for early voting with using just the hallway. The hallway is just not big enough for the turnout and making sure the equipment is secure each night. If we had full access to the building that would have been great.”
She the local board “never made it a requirement for the city to find us a new place. We were trying to work together as a team to resolve the issue.”
