State Board of Elections considers new voting equipment as board is in turmoil

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The resignation of the chair of the State Board of Elections comes as the board is considering a major decision on voting equipment used in Mecklenburg County.

Bob Cordle resigned from the state board Tuesday after it was revealed he made an inappropriate joke about cows and sex to an audience of hundreds.

[NC Elections chairman resigns over joke relating cows to women]

The resignation leaves the board with four members as it considers certifying three vendors for election equipment. Voting rights activists have expressed security and integrity concerns over voting system ES&S's equipment. The equipment produces barcodes and lists of how a person voted but the barcode is tabulated.

"I think that advocacy groups would tell you there is a concern whether voters do or would trust that the barcode is, in fact, that name that is selected," former NCSBE general counsel Josh Lawson said. "I think, in general, it is not just a security critique but also a legitimacy critique. You want to make sure voters are confident."

With ES&S's equipment, voters would make their choice by touchscreen.

The other two voting systems, Hart InterCivic and Clear Ballot, require hand-marked paper ballots.

It would be a major switch for Mecklenburg County where people have been voting electronically for 25 years.

"There won't be a winter break this year," elections director Michael Dickerson said.

State law requires Mecklenburg County to have new voting equipment for the 2020 races. Dickerson said time is ticking. There is a short window for training and testing between when the 2019 elections are over and when ballots for the 2020 race have to go out.

"Right after the election, it makes December and January kind of crazy over here," Dickerson said. "We are just going to have to get everyone trained and ready to go."

The NCSBE meets Thursday.

Earlier in the week, the NCSBE voted 3-2 on a new requirement that it is not enough to list the names with the barcode and voters have to be able to see what is tabulated.

Thursday's agenda calls for that vote to be rescinded, however, with a four-member board, it is unclear if there are enough votes to do that.

Bob Cordle is the third chair to resign in the past eight months. Gov. Roy Cooper will appoint his replacement. The timeline is unclear.

Cox Media Group