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One-stop voting has been available in the county, but only at the board of elections office in the old courthouse in Halifax. During the May primary election, more than 1,000 people took advantage of the opportunity to avoid long lines at their designated polling sites by voting early.
The two new one-stop absentee voting sites, if they are approved by the State Board of Elections, should make early voting possible for many more voters throughout the county. One will be located in Roanoke Rapids at the Sanitary District building and the other in Enfield at the St. Paul Baptist Church.
The satellite offices and the Halifax County Board of Elections office site would open 19 days before the general election on Oct. 16. The early voting hours will be Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Saturday one-stop voting ends. The one exception is on Wednesday, Oct. 22, when the satellite office located at the Roanoke Rapids Sanitary District will only operate from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.
The funding for the two new one-stop sites will come from a state grant and that is the reason an emergency meeting was called by the county board Tuesday.
The application for the grant must be submitted no later than Friday.
Halifax County Board of Elections Director Jacqueline Taylor had all of the paperwork ready for the board Tuesday afternoon, which included a site location plan that sets forth the procedures that will be used at each of the one-stop voting sites.
The plan also includes the county's utilization of computer equipment for voter registration purposes and detailed voting equipment information, including all necessary security measures.
The Halifax Board voted unanimously Tuesday evening to pass the resolution and submit the application to the State Board of Elections.
Taylor pointed out that voters will be able to register to vote and then actually vote at both new locations on the same day. “You can only do this from 19 to three days before the election, not on election day,” she said.
The additional one-stop sites will require hiring at least three precinct election officials for each of the new sites. Taylor said the positions will be on a part-time basis and require training, for which the applicant is paid.
Officials will be chosen so that each political party is represented at each site. Training will consist of a three-hour session held at the board of elections office in the old Halifax court house located at 10 North King Street in Halifax.
For more information on one-stop voter registration and voting, or for applications to become a precinct election official, contact the Halifax County Board of Elections office at (252) 583-4391, or go to the county Web site, www.halifaxnc.com/boardofelections.cfm.
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