GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — Fears about voting and election security have run rampant online, prompting the North Carolina State Board of Elections to warn voters about misinformation on their website.
Some of those rumors fuel fear about safety, which is something local election officials want to dispel as some very important voting dates loom closer.
On Friday, the first absentee ballots will be sent out.
They want to make sure people know they have to have their photo ID and to get those absentee ballots in early. They also want to reassure people the election process in Guilford County is a well-oiled machine.
“We have all the ballots that I think we are going to need for all of absentee balloting in-house. Now what we are doing is putting them in envelopes and getting them addressed to people that have requested them already,” Guilford Board of Elections director Charlie Collicutt said.
With a choice of president and governor on North Carolina ballots, people want to know that the process is safe amid recent tension.
“That’s always on people’s minds, and what I can say is they have a job to do to maintain order. They are training in de-escalation … At the same time, we have resources. We have law enforcement that we work closely with at the tip of our fingertips that we can respond … very quickly to any incidents that may occur,” Collicutt said.
Collicutt has been working elections for 20 years and says it’s his life’s commitment to carry out the mission of democracy.
“The job has changed. The eyes on it have changed, but one thing that hasn’t is that we take every vote … every ballot very seriously,” he said.
For anyone concerned about absentee ballots, there are safeguards in place.
“We have our vault here at the courthouse … with plenty of security, so that ballot is handled only by staff, and it’s a very secure system,” Collicutt said.
He says they do expect a surge in voter registrations. The deadline is Oct. 11. Guilford County has already seen a lot of people sign up to volunteer to help.
“We’ll probably use about 1,300 on election day and another seven or 800 for early voting, and we do have a lot of those people in place,” Collicutt said.
Anyone can contact their respective county to volunteer to help with voting.
“Early voting is going to start on Oct. 17. In Guilford County, we have 28 places that any Guilford County resident can vote … Election day is Nov. 5,” he said.
They want to encourage people to mail in those absentee ballots as soon as possible. They must arrive before Nov. 5 and not after.
