With interest in North Carolina’s presidential primary building, a watchdog group is calling on state and local officials to beef up preparations for a surge of voters on May 6 and at the one-stop early-voting sites that open across the state today (Thursday).
“It’s like preparing for a hurricane and a week-long rock concert at the same time,†said Bob Hall, executive director of Democracy North Carolina, a nonpartisan election-reform organization. “Officials need to plan for every contingency, add extra personnel, anticipate where bottlenecks will happen and keep educating the public about changes in conditions.â€
Democracy North Carolina’s recommendations include opening more early-voting sites during the week of April 21, opening sites on Saturdays and Sundays and getting advance cooperation from college officials to process last-minute registrations from students.