Scheduled this week in Cleveland County was the first of a series of public discussions on a plan to save the taxpayers of the county 63% of the cost of each election, which can be as much as $100,000 in some years. In addition to the savings to the taxpayers, the plan would increase the integrity of the elections process and reduce potential confusion of where to vote. I have some questions about the plan, but the concept is intriguing; the positives warrant full investigation.

After voting to have a series of public discussions, a single member changed her vote. This reversal stopped any further consideration of the plan, establishing that your input didn’t matter. It is disconcerting that a single individual reversed her position, and in giving no reason for doing so, left many to wonder why.

In NC, County Boards of Elections are comprised of three people; two are of the political party of the governor, one is not; thus, the each county board is comprised of two Democrats and one Republican. Given the fact that they control the elections process, Boards of Elections are among the most partisan of public committees.

Based on a successful experiment in November’s election in which four precincts in King’s Mountain were combined into two polling locations, the BOE established that efficiencies of “mega-sites” would yield substantial cost savings with no perceived inconvenience to the voter. Based on this success, the lone Republican introduced a plan to consider consolidating polling locations from the current 26 to as few as 8.

The partisan board recognized the potential benefit, and voted across party lines to initiate a series of forums to hear the thoughts of the public on the concept.

However, at the January meeting, a single member of the BOE decided to change her vote – only days prior to the first publicly announced hearing. As a result, the BOE chose to effectively continue the cost and increased risk of fraud, without any input from the taxpayers of the county. The board chair and husband of former Democrat Party chair Betsy Wells made his thoughts clear. “My intention is to not have this; that’s exactly what my intention is.”

Of the functions of Government, none can be more important than Elections, and both parties share in that responsibility. Both parties have responsibilities to the voters and to the taxpayers. It is shameful that given a potential way to save the taxpayers over half of the cost of every election and reducing the potential for fraud, one party blatantly refuses to consider the measure while the other seeks to hear from the people of the county. One cannot help but wonder why.