The North Carolina State Board of Elections has agreed to extend voting hours at two voting sites following precinct disruptions.

At a voting site in Wilson County, staff shortcomings caused an hour-and-a-half delay in the morning. The state board reported that printers weren’t working at the Gardners School voting site. A temporary printer connection issue led to poll workers not being able to print “authorization to vote” forms for voters to check in to vote.

During an emergency meeting at 3:30 on Tuesday to address the situation, the Board members unanimously agreed to add 30 minutes of voting time while noting that there is a new director for the county. Ten people were reportedly at the site, of which four later returned.

“We are talking about an extraordinary remedy. I think 30 minutes would be sufficient for anyone who showed up first thing in the morning,” said board member Stacy Eggers IV.

Four of five members agreed to also extend voting at the Pilot Mountain precinct in Burke County. The site will be open an additional half-hour until 8:00 due to a laptop issue. Officials were unable to boot up a laptop with the official pollbook used for checking in voters.

Anyone casting a ballot at the two affected precincts after 7:30 will cast a provisional ballot, so it will be trackable. The precincts will have to hold their results for 30 minutes beyond the rest of the state.

With over 2,600 polling sites across North Carolina, it’s not unusual for minor issues to occur at polling sites that result in a brief disruption of voting. Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell touched on the latest turnout numbers at the end of the meeting, saying it could be a new record if voters continue to turn out like they did in the morning.

“If the 10 o’clock turnout numbers are any indication, we are tracking for turnout that would meet or exceed our largest turnout we’ve ever experienced, which was in 2020 at a total turnout of 75% of North Carolinians casting their ballot in that election,” Brinson Bell revealed. “And so if the voters have continued to turn out this afternoon, we anticipate meeting that or exceeding that for this election.”