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<br /> <br />Linda C. Grist <br />Director <br /> <br /> <br />R.. Giles Moss <br />Chairman <br /> <br />Carol Link Soles <br />Secretary <br /> <br />Anne C. Shuping <br />Member <br /> <br />Cabarrus County Board of Elections <br />p.o, Box 1315 <br />53 Corban Avenue, SE <br />Concord, NC 28026-1315 <br />Phone 704-920-2860 Fax 704-920-2831 <br /> <br />September 5, 2005 <br /> <br />Dear Madam Chairman and fellow Commissioners, <br /> <br />Cabarrus County is getting ready to embark on a new process for performing elections due to issues <br />which occurred during the 2000 presidential election in Florida and the problems that occurred <br />throughout North Carolina in 2004. Federal and State laws mandate the County to replace the elections <br />punch card system; Along with the new equipment, new processes and operational procedures are. <br />required to be implemented within the office. Cabarrus County Board of Elections has an excellent <br />record in the accuracy and performance of elections results in North Carolina. <br /> <br />However, with all the new changes, it also changes the way we do business. Upon discussion between <br />staff and the new Elections Board, there are concerns with the ability to absorb all these changes with <br />the current staff level. The Board feels that an additional staff member, Senior Elections Clerk, would <br />allow Cabarrus County to continue to maintain their excellentlevel of integrity and service along with <br />meeting the guidelines and regulations of the new requirements passed down from the state. <br /> <br />We will soon be required to select the type of equipment the County will purchase in order to perform <br />elections and make that recommendation to the Board of Commissioners. The State Board of Election <br />will limit the selection process to two choices: DRE with paper trail (touch screen) and Optical Scan <br />with additional limitations on the vendor we will be able to use. We have just been told this decision by <br />the state will not become available until December, with requirements to purchase by statute on January <br />1, 2006. A complete new system will require additional workload requirements in a very short time. <br /> <br />Cabarrus County's population has increased as well as the registered voters in the County since 1995 <br />when the last full time position was added. We have grown from 55,000/60,000 registered voters in <br />1995 to 90,239 in 2005. We project the 2006 registered voters list to exceed 95,000. We are required to <br />maintain records on each voter along with properly identifYing the precinct they live in. With these <br />increases, along with all the other duties/programs required recently by statute, it has become more time <br />consuming to do our daily and weekly audits on our work. This is a very important process which <br />ensures that each citizen is able to vote on issues which affect the community they live in. On Election <br />Day, this one area can cause confusion for the citizens who'may show up at the wrong precinct and still <br />want to vote. This is a customer service issue. <br /> <br />We have an excellent part time staff which helps during the actual election process. They are dedicated <br />and well trained for their specific function which they are responsible for. We have considered using <br />part-time staff to meet our needs but feel this will not meet the needs we have on a regular basis. <br /> <br />F-~ <br />