Catawba County News
Catawba County 101: Elections
Published: August 01, 2024
MAKING. LIVING. BETTER: Board of Elections
What is its mission/purpose?
The Catawba County Board of Elections is committed to efficiently conducting fair, honest, and impartial elections so that all qualified Catawba County citizens may exercise their right to vote.
How do you achieve your mission – what services are offered?
The Catawba County Board of Elections works in conjunction with the State Board of Elections office to ensure that elections are conducted lawfully and fairly. The office conducts local elections, operates voting sites, maintains voter registration lists and handles numerous aspects of election administration.
Who does this department/service area/program serve?
Catawba County Board of Elections serves all eligible voters in Catawba County.
How and where are services delivered?
During an election:
- Up to 5 Early Voting polling locations are set up (for 17 days)
- 40 Election Day precinct polling sites are opened for countywide elections
- Absentee-by-mail ballots begin mailing up to 60 days before an election
- Mandatory poll worker training is conducted for all election officials
Throughout the year, the Elections office:
- Registers voters and updates voter information
- Provides voter photo IDs, when requested
- Removes convicted felons and deceased voters
- Files candidates for upcoming elections
- Audits campaign finance reports
- Maintains the voter registration database and mapping database
- Secures and maintains voting equipment and precinct supplies
How many staff members are involved in delivering services?
A Board of 5 appointed members oversees the functions of the county elections office and hires the director to administer all related duties.
The office consists of 4 full-time staff members. During an election cycle, 5 temporary part-time workers join the office. During a large federal election, 350-400 paid election officials are needed to staff the 40 polling sites and 5 early voting sites. Many of these are county employees!
Please share anything unique or interesting about this program you would want people to know.
County employees make the best poll workers. Trained poll workers are assigned to a precinct’s polling site and must stay there all day from 6am to around 8pm. Workers are paid a flat fee for this service.
During Early Voting in even-numbered years, the office hires workers for the Early Voting sites. The job is broken into shifts, Morning, Afternoon, Lunchtime, and Weekend. Quite a few county employees like working the weekend shift (3 Saturdays and 2 Sundays per each large election)—this pays an hourly rate. Each election cycle, Early Voting workers must attend a precinct training class and an Early Voting worker class.