Voter complains about refusal to allow use of paper ballot

A New Bern woman complained to the Craven County Board of Elections when she was refused a paper ballot during one-stop early voting this week. She said her mother had voted on a paper ballot last week.

Election officials say using the paper ballot was a departure from procedure. Craven County's one-stop plan calls for using only electronic machines except in extenuating circumstances.

April D. Pope said she asked for a paper ballot when she went to vote Wednesday at No. 7 Township Fire and Rescue Station. She said her mother had gotten a paper ballot there the previous Friday. 

"I just feel more comfortable using a paper ballot," Pope said. "I'm thinking about all the people much older than me that are terrified of computers. Just because they don't feel ‘confident or comfortable' with computers and want to vote by paper ballot doesn't mean they should be turned away."

Pope said her mother, who used to be a poll worker, advised her that "if there was a line, to go to the front and find someone that had on an election bib and ask them where the line was to vote by paper ballot."

An election official told her there was no paper ballot, she said. When Pope told her that her mother had used a paper ballot, the poll worker asked if her mother was in a wheel chair or physically handicapped.  She was not, Pope said.

Pope made her complaint in a letter to Craven County Board of Elections Director Tonya Pitts. The letter was delivered by Craven County Republican Party Chairman Michael Speciale.

The Craven County Board of Elections reviewed the complaint at its meeting on Thursday and Pitts shared an e-mail from a State Board of Elections technician which showed that the potential infraction was in giving the mother a paper ballot.

While Craven County ordered enough paper ballots for all registered voters, Pitts said, they are supposed to be used on the Nov. 4 Election Day and for special cases and extenuating circumstances.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections received a report last Friday that voters using Craven County one-stop sites had been given a choice to vote either a paper ballot or cast votes using the electronic machines.

A state board district technician e-mailed Pitts Oct. 27 that the Craven County early voting plan specified that voters use direct-record electronic voting equipment.

"Paper ballots should only be used in the case of curbside voters, provisional ballots, challenged ballots, and in case of emergency," Rosemary Blizzard, the elections technician wrote in an e-mail to Pitts.

"Based on our discussion Friday, you indicated that this was done early on to help with congestion and during...printer repairs. You also indicated that the practice had been discontinued and more machines were put in place to handle the heavier than expected turnout."

Blizzard asked Pitts to "please review with your staff the one stop plan adopted by your board and verify that, except as noted above, voters are using the equipment to cast all regular one stop ballots."