Brandon Lee checks in to vote on Thursday morning at the Sampson County Exposition Center. Over 9,000 votes have been cast in early voting just in Clinton.
Election officials review data information and process voters during early election at the Sampson Exposition Center.
Niya Ryner, director, explains the absentee ballott counting process to the board of elections Tuesday night.
Sampson County’s voter turnout is poised to mirror that of the ballots cast in 2020, or possibly even exceed it, if early voting totals are any indication.
As of 2 p.m. Friday, the Sampson County Board of Elections was reporting that almost 18,000 registered voters had been to the polls early — 4,408 in Newton Grove, 1,375 at Harrells, and 12,142 in Clinton — with today closing out the final day to vote before Election Day. Early voting sites close today at 3 p.m. Polls open Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 6:30 a.m. at all 23 precinct locations and will remain open until 7:30 p.m.
Earlier this week, during a meeting of the Sampson County Board of Elections, director Niya Rayner said that a little over 20,000 voters came out to let their voice be heard during the 2020 election. Her hope, she said, is that as many, if not more, cast their ballots in 2024.
During the Tuesday meeting, election board members and staff opened ballot envelopes from absentee voters, verifying the ballots one by one.
A husband and wife appeared to have mixed up their envelopes, with the outside information and the inside information being for each other, instead of for themselves.
“This is common; it happens often in a lot of places,” explained Rayner.
The board, responsible for deciding whether to accept or dismiss the absentee ballots in question, voted unanimously to accept the ballots and move forward.
Rayner also had her recommendations for “disapproved” ballots, wrapped in a purple envelope cover.
“This happens due to improper witnesses, or not the correct amount,” she explained, as she noted examples from several absentee ballots.
Some board members applauded Rayner for her careful observation of improper ballots.
A motion was made to “disapprove” once each of the ballots in question were inspected by board members.
There were 13 disapproved and reissued absentees. Disapproved and reissued is when there is a witness or notary mistake. The ballot has to be disapproved, spoiled and reissued, Rayner noted in an email.
Up next were the ‘cure’ ballots, those where mistakes were made by the voter and not the witness to the vote. Examples presented of actual ballots showed things like no photo copy of ID, and most commonly no signature on the ballot, or a power of attorney vote not completed by the voter.
“Power of attorney still requires the voter to make their own marking,” Rayner said
A total of 11 cure absentee ballotts were presented. Rayner said in the email, ‘this is when there is a voter mistake, but the voter has the opportunity to correct their mistake. This happens when the voter did not sign, or the voter did not include a photo ID copy, or the exception form.”
The cure process was postponed until the next meeting, scheduled for Monday, and those cured ballots were placed in a bright orange envelope.
Affidavit votes were now on the table.
“These are ballots where the ballots were done correctly. The affidavits meet the requirement under state law,” explained Rayner.
The board passed each of those around the table and then, following a motion and second, unanimously approved.
After validating the affidavit absentee ballots they moved on to the the normal ballots.
“These are in person,” she said pointing at one plastic box. “These were by mail,” she added, pointing to another large plastic office-style container box,
One by one they passed the ballots, in envelopes, around the room, requiring the signature of each board member. Quietly, intentionally focused, each board member inspected and diligently took care to sign, and inspect, every absentee voter ballot envelope.
All ballots were then opened and fed into a machine which counts each one.
In total, 44 affidavit absentee votes, and 154 military, college, work-related, and overseas ballots were counted and accepted Tuesday evening, Oct 29.
By Tuesday evening, a total of 369 absentees out of over 1,000 had been received.
“We have one of the best boards of election, in the state,” said Sampson County Commissioner Chairman Jerol Kivett. “I’d put them up against any election board. They have the upmost integrity. The amount of time they have to put into their duty as board members is a tremendous amount of time. And also the staff, they’re really great; we’re lucky to have them.”
Early voting ends at 3 p.m. today, Nov. 2. Any voter that does not vote before the deadline Saturday will have to wait until Election Day, Nov. 5, to cast their ballot.
Election Day voting
While early voting allows voters to go to one of three places, on Election Day, voting occurs at all 23 Sampson County precincts between the hours of 6:30 am and 7:30 pm, and a registered voter must vote in their proper precinct. Anyone in line at 7:30 p.m. may cast their ballot.