Voters in Columbus and Scotland counties won’t get to cast ballots on Sunday ahead of the November election.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections on Thursday considered early-voting schedules for 20 counties, including Columbus and Scotland, where local election boards did not agree unanimously. State board members largely sided with local boards’ Republican majorities, opting against Sunday voting and limiting early-voting on some college campuses.
While the state board nixed Sunday voting in Columbus County, it agreed to open five early-voting sites as local Democrats had wanted.
The three Republicans on the Columbus County Board of Elections–Jillian McPherson-Edge, Lynn Fairfax, and Lynne Thompson–voted in June to open four early-voting sites in Whiteville, Chadbourn, Tabor City, and Riegelwood for 13 days, but no Sunday. Democrats Rodney Singletary and Wanda Brooks voted to open five sites, including one in Fair Bluff, for 14 days, including a Sunday.
Brooks was the only Columbus County board member who attended the state board meeting in Raleigh on Thursday. “Whatever our political affiliation, an early-voting plan should be based on the needs of the voters we are entrusted to serve, not on whether a voting location or schedule may benefit one candidate, one party, or an outside political objective,” she said.
Some Democrats and voting-rights advocates say the state has been trying to reduce Sunday voting since the Republican-led General Assembly last year stripped Gov. Josh Stein of the power to appoint election board members across the state. Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek now holds the authority.
Dallas Woodhouse, who worked in Boliek’s office as a county liaison, resigned in July amid questions about his influence on early-voting schedules.
Woodhouse, a former director of the North Carolina Republican Party, told McPherson-Edge in a text message in late May that three early-voting sites in Columbus County were ideal. Five sites, he said, were “overkill.”
McPherson-Edge had previously suggested having only one early-voting site, saying it would save the county money. Residents and voting-rights advocates pushed back against any reduction in sites.
Some critics of Sunday voting say people should not cast ballots during Christian holy days. Matt Longworth, a Republican member of the Anson County elections board, told the state board on Thursday the practice is contributing to the “downfall of the country.”
“Our lives are so full that we can’t take time for God,” Longworth said. “We’re too busy. We need to revisit our priorities,” he said.
But many predominantly-Black churches with members who tend to favor Democratic candidates host “Souls to the Polls” events on Sundays.
Seth Morris, a Raleigh attorney who spoke during the meeting in favor of Sunday voting in Anson County, said all religions don’t worship on Sundays. “The Sabbath is different for different people.”
In Scotland County, where 37% of residents are Black, the local board also split along party lines on Sunday voting.
In a letter to the state elections board, Scotland County board chair Damion Butler said Sunday voting is not feasible because the two staff members of the local elections office need a day off. The county has struggled to recruit precinct officials, he said.
But the two Democrats on the local board, Charles Clark and Harriet Jackson, wrote in a separate letter to state officials in July that many residents, including those who work six days a week, need more options.
“Scotland County citizens over the past years have repeatedly asked that the Board of Elections offer Sunday voting,” they wrote.
Ahead of the 2024 general election, when voters elected the U.S. president, 314 people cast ballots on a Sunday, according to the Scotland County Democratic Party.