ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Officials believe the race for president will come down to results in seven states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Voter turnout has steadily increased in North Carolina over the last 24 years. According to the State Board of Elections, some 3,015,964 people cast ballots in 2000. That grew to 3,551,675 in 2004 and 4,354,052 in 2008. Some 4,540,488 people votd in 2012 and 4,769,640 in 2016. Then in 2020, that number climbed to 5,545,848.
With more voters heading to the polls in North Carolina and growing concerns about security nationwide, one might expect more poll workers. But that’s not the case in North Carolina.
“Actually, we do not even have the amount of personnel that we did in 2020,” State Board of Elections Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell said during a news conference Monday. “So we have we have stretched and we have made it work, and I think that is just a testament to the dedication and the passion and commitment that particularly at the State Board of Elections that the staff has to ensure that these elections go as smoothly as possible.”
According to Pew Research Center, North Carolina had five to seven poll workers per polling site in 2022.
Bell said there’s been no problem with recruiting poll workers. The problem is money.
“We did not receive the appropriated positions or the allocation of some of the federal grant funds to have as many field support specialists as we did in 2020,” Bell said.
It takes about 25,000 individuals to make voting happen at these polling places, Bell said.
She said election officials were worried they might have difficulty finding poll workers in Western North Carolina, which was devastated by the remnants of Hurricane Helene.
“They were able to find workers within their counties. I think, whether it’s because of Hurricane Helene or just their commitment to this as their civic duty, people want to give back and they want to be involved,” Bell said. “And even though they know that the environment has changed and there’s more hostility and so forth, I think some people do it in spite of that. They know that it takes them to make this happen.”
State Board of Elections said Sunday that more than 4.2 million voters cast ballots at early in-person voting sites, with turnout in western counties hit by Hurricane Helene outpacing the rest of the state.
“We have often been asked to do more with less, and that is what we have done. And I think it’s exceptional what we’ve been able to pull off,” Bell said. “The counties, many of them have faced the same struggles and not having adequate resources and personnel, but they’ve made it work.