By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
When a voting site was first opened at Morehead Planetarium in 2000, plenty of students, joined by a host of elected and university officials, lined the steps for the opportunity to cast a ballot on campus for the first time. And while the idea of an on-campus voting site has focused on getting more students to turn out, it’s proved even more popular among university employees and those who frequent downtown as a convenient way to do one’s civic duty.
But construction for a new exhibit at the Planetarium will render the site unusable for this fall’s elections and an alternative proposed by county elections officials to move the site off-campus is drawing opposition both inside and outside the university.
Last week, newly elected Student Body President Eve Carson spoke out against the move at the UNC-Chapel Hill’s Board of Trustees meeting. She urged the board to do what it could to make sure a campus voting site is available.
Orange County elections director Barry Garner said he’s been working with student leaders to try to find an alternative, but that the two presented so far have drawbacks.
In addition to state law requiring the site to be in a publicly financed building, Garner said ease of access and parking are key considerations.
For that reason, he ruled out the Stone Center and has questions about the use of the Student Union, the two sites the university has offered.
Garner says the Seymour Senior Center on Homestead Road has better accessibility than the union.
He expects that a new site would be temporary.
“It will just be for this election,†he said, adding that he expects roughly 2,000 voters to cast their ballots at whatever site is chosen.
The county Board of Elections will hear a presentation on the union site and the Seymour Center site at a meeting Tuesday, Aug. 7, at 4 p.m. at the Board of Elections office on King Street in Hillsborough.
Garner says the board can pick one, both or none of the sites.
If the board opts to open both locations, he estimates that it will cost the county roughly $10,000 to pay for additional staffing for the two-week early-voting period.
If another alternative is found downtown or on campus in time to review it, Garner says he’ll present that one to the board as well.