New legislation could cut back on early voting days, sites

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In North Carolina, voters have 17 days to cast their votes early.

Critics said new legislation filed in the Senate, which cuts back on the number of early voting days and changes where people can vote, would cause chaos at the polls.

"No one likes to wait in line," Gerrick Brenner of Progress North Carolina said from a podium in front of the Mecklenburg County Government Center.

He and others gathered there to inform voters about bills that they say will make voters wait in even longer lines on Election Day.

One bill, Senate Bill 721, proposes cutting the number of early voting days from 17 to 6.

Another, Senate Bill 666, proposes cutting the number of early voting days to 10 and allowing only one site for early voting: the county board of elections office.

"I was really surprised that this was happening," UNC Charlotte student Mary-Wren Ritchie said.

She voted early on campus at UNC Charlotte in 2012. She says a lot of students have limited transportation.

She's also concerned about another bill, Senate Bill 667, which would prevent her parents from claiming her as a dependent on their taxes if she's registered to vote away from their home address.

She said it would mean she'd have to drive five hours home to cast a ballot.

"It's baffling," she said.

Scott Roberts, the secretary of the Gaston County Board of Elections, said the staff there is worried about crowds and chaos on Election Day.

"People are going to have to stand outside in the weather for hours at a time," he said. He also fears that tabulating the results will take much longer, since he expects more people would be voting that day.

Michael Dickerson, the director of elections in Mecklenburg County, said the day and site restrictions on early voting would be very challenging.

Dickerson said in the 2012 general election, 62 percent of voters in Mecklenburg County voted early.

Political expert Dr. Michael Bitzer said it could be an attempt at saving money.

"It certainly could reduce the cost associated with staffing these early voting sites and consolidating them into one would certainly reduce that," he said.

Bitzer pointed out that offices would likely have to hire more staff on Election Day.

Sens. Bill Cook, Ron Rabin and Norman Sanderson released a joint statement on the bills they proposed.

It said that, "the intent of these bills is to protect the integrity of North Carolina's entire electoral process. We believe these reforms will be appreciated by citizens in this state who view voting as a sacred civic duty."

Cook, Rabin and Sanderson also cited the bills as a way of saving money: "In these tough economic times, we need to be proactive in finding ways to save money. One day of early voting in North Carolina costs $98,000. Our counties bear this cost exclusively. Cutting back early voting from seventeen to ten days does this by saving roughly $686,000 per election."

The head of the N.C. Board of Elections Gary Bartlett told Eyewitness News by phone that he believes cutting back on early voting could end up costing more. He said he would have to add more sites and equipment for Election Day and would have to maintain that additional equipment all year round.