The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit struck down North Carolina’s voter ID laws last month. This change is causing local Boards of Elections to revamp their systems – including Orange County.
ID requirements are now being replaced with preregistration for teenagers, a week of early voting, same-day registration and out-of-precinct provisional voting. All of these changes will be part of the general election this November. And with all these changes, Tracy Reams has her own way of describing the looming elections.
“It seems like it’s been a moving target up until now.”
Reams is the director of Orange County Board of Elections. She said waiting for the Court of Appeals’ decision on voter ID laws kept her, and the rest of her committee, guessing.
“Well we never really know what we’re going to be doing from one day to the next so to speak,” Reams said.
Now that the 2013 Voter ID law has been overturned, Reams said her committee is working quickly to educate the public and the voting officials on the new guidelines.
“What we’re doing now is going in with our precinct supplies and we’re taking out anything that relates to requiring a photo ID,” Reams said. “We’re going to be working on updating our manuals and making sure to train our precinct officials that they no longer have to ask for a photo ID.”
Reams said repealing the Voter ID law will not only give people more times to vote, but also help with efficiency at the booths.
“Just the fact that the voter doesn’t have to present that voter ID will take a step out of the process out for our precinct officials. So we’re hoping that due to the elimination of that one step, we’ll be able to process our voters more efficiently.”
Reams suspects these upcoming elections will draw large numbers to the voting booths, and asked that anyone interested in the voting process volunteer at the polls.
“We’re always looking for anybody that’s willing to work on Election Day. With this election coming up, we’re going to be prepared to have a large turn out. So if there’s anybody out there that wants to work, please give us a call and we can find you a place to work.”
Early voting will start seven days earlier than usual, this year beginning on October 20. With this change, Reams said her committee will hold an open meeting on Tuesday, August 16 to discuss an early voting plan.
“Of course there will be an opportunity for public input prior to the discussion,” Reams said.
The early voting plan will be submitted on August 19. For anyone planning to vote on Election Day, the registration deadline is Friday, October the 14.
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