LAURINBURG — The Scotland County Board of Elections met Monday for its monthly meeting with talks of preparing for the upcoming elections.
The Board of Elections will be holding two educational seminars on Wednesday — one at 10:30 a.m. and the other at 6 p.m at the Emergency Operation Center located at 1403 West Blvd. in Laurinburg.
The seminars will focus on the voter photo identification requirements that will begin in 2020 when voters will be required to show a photo ID before they can vote. This includes all methods of voting – in person and absentee by mail voting.
The seminar is free to everyone and will be lead by a state board representative.
The board also discussed the filing for the upcoming municipal election that will begin Friday at noon and will run until July 19 at noon.
Up for election include for the city of Laurinburg — mayor, district one seat, district two seat — with a $25 filing fee; East Laurinburg — mayor and three town commissioners — with a filing fee of $18 for mayor and $12 for town commissioners; Gibson — mayor and three town commissioners — with a filing fee of $5; Wagram — mayor and three town commissioners — all with a $5 filing fee; and Maxton — mayor and three town commissioners — with a $72 filing fee for mayor and a $36 filing fee for town commissioner.
Board of Elections Director Dell Parker suggested to the board that One-Stop for the municipal election would run from Oct. 16 to Nov. 1 on weekdays from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the County Annex Building — which the board approved.
The election will be on Nov. 5 from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
There was also the discussion of early voting for the Special 9th Congressional District General Election. The board approved for One-Stop Early Voting for the special election to run 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Aug. 21 to Sept. 6 on weekdays with the exception of an added day of voting on Aug. 24.
“The reason I’m asking for that one Saturday is because Labor Day falls in there,” Parker said. “The office will be closed on that day and since we’ll be closed I think we should give the voters an extra day that they can come.”
If anyone should have questions and or concerns, contact the Board of Elections office at 910-277-2595.