Mecklenburg County Elections Board Director Michael Dickerson praised the lines seen at early voting sites across the Charlotte area on Wednesday and said his county is prepared for any issues that may arise in the coming weeks as Election Day nears.
Officials overseeing major cities in key swing states like Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, and Wisconsin discussed the election administration process and growing efforts to enhance election transparency during a meeting held by the Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions on Wednesday.
With over 830,000 registered voters in Mecklenburg County, Director Dickerson touched on two challenges the state has faced over the past two months: reprinting ballots to remove RFK Jr.’s name and the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene in the mountains of western North Carolina.
“A quarter of the counties in this state were affected by that hurricane, and the ability for our state to pivot, it’s a credit to our State Board and actually our legislature too, to pivot and make certain that those folks that were affected by this natural disaster will be able to cast votes,” Dickerson said. “We will be hopscotching issues all the way up to after Election Day, and it’s just a matter of how we have to do it.”
Mecklenburg has the second-most registered voters in the state, slightly behind Wake County. Data shows that 149,385 people have voted in Mecklenburg County through Tuesday, as compared to 156,555 who voted in person in the first six days of early voting in 2020.
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“We are having some lines at early voting, which I look at as a great thing. There is a lot of interest out there, and I’m impressed with the quality of the line we’re having. A long line is an hour, to me,” Dickerson said during the meeting.
North Carolina’s updated election observer laws allow observers more freedom to move within polling stations, increasing transparency but posing new challenges for election officials. Dickerson said that while this delivers greater oversight, officials must ensure observers don’t interfere with the process or overstep their role.
“The issue this year for us is making sure we bridle back those folks that are out there thinking they’re doing our job and making certain that we do our job, and they just stick to observing the actual election process,” he added.
Speakers from other cities thrown into the national spotlight on election night included Dana Lewis, Recorder for Pinal County, AZ; Paulina Gutierrez, Elections Commission Director for Milwaukee, WI; Eric Olsen, Electoral Board Chair and Registrar for Prince William County, VA; and Nadine Williams, Director of Registration and Elections for Fulton County, GA.
At the end of the call, all leaders representing some of the largest swing state counties in the country affirmed that they are more prepared than ever for this November’s general election.