When Charlie Collicutt became the director of the Guilford County Board of Elections, there was no way he could know what he was getting into – namely, that he’d need to hold elections in the middle of a pandemic and also at a time when a large number of people wouldn’t trust the outcomes.
But Collicutt, like his election staff, has been adjusting to the times, and Collicutt said the preparations for the November 2022 election are going well.
Collicutt said that, when voters show up to cast ballots this year, there will still be some obvious signs of the remains of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on voting practices, but it won’t be the full-fledged apocalyptic sci-fi movie scene it resembled in 2020.
“Voters will still see some plastic barriers and we’re still going to space things out,” Collicutt said.
While poll workers will be wearing masks, there will be no mandatory six-foot distance rule that people had become so accustomed to over the past two and a half years.
He said there will also be a lot of cleaning and disinfecting going on throughout the voting process.
Unlike primary elections, which usually see a small percentage of voters come out to the polls – making things easier on election workers – mid-term election and the presidential election years, these days, have better turn out.
In some parts of the country, political groups have been conducting major challenges as to who should and should not be included on the voter rolls in the November election. Collicutt said that hadn’t been a big issue in Guilford County, but he added that there had been requests to examine records, ballots and audits from the 2020 election.
The Guilford County Elections Department is no stranger to adjusting with the times. In recent years, it has had to deal with strange scenarios such as last-minute redistricting and going about a year without a Guilford County Board of Elections.
Fortunately, the county’s elections department is one of the most efficient and effective departments in Guilford County government. It has proven deft at adjusting on the fly and, if people call in with questions, a knowledgeable election worker almost always picks up the phone in the first few rings and can help the voter with their questions and needs. It’s also one of the only county departments where the lights will be on and workers can be seen working well into the evening, whether it’s peak election time or not.
I fully trust our election officials to run a free and fair election process. Those claiming mass fraud and lack of integrity in our voting systems are just sheep parroting the Trump Party Head and his little worthless minions who put self/party over country and community.
Wasn’t Mr. Pillow Fool supposed have more shocking voter fraud evidence yesterday? Lol, kinda like the Qnon nutters who believed the vaccine had a trigger programed for 10/10 that was going to disfigure all the science pro-vaccine people. Nutters all round. What a sad joke our country has become.
Calling Americans “worthless minions “ is a byproduct of our failed education system. Name calling, shaming, gas lighting and such reflect the fact that the author isn’t capable of a making a legitimate argument with real thoughts.
Hahaha. Riiiiiiight. Then why support Trump given his penchant for name calling? Hypocritical much?
But to the broader point…Trumpers are a subset of republicans. These are the people who believe Jan 6th was a good thing and are foolish enough to believe everything Trump says. Such as the Big Lie about election fraud ‘cheating’ him out of a second term with zero supporting facts. People who believe lies in the face of mountains counter evidence…Minions is a more than appropriate label.
Are you minion? I am not.
You sound quadruple vaccinated and probably are still wearing mask.
And you’re in the top 5 for that honor
Do you have an issue with a good night’s sleep sir?
You are right. Nutters are everywhere, mostly in Government.
I agree that the elections department is one of the most effective and efficient departments in Guilford County government. They are always prompt, cheerful and courteous.
Considering that it has been firmly and scientifically established that masks don’t work, so called “social distancing” had no basis in fact, and that Covid is not spread by contact with surfaces but rather aerosols not stopped by common masks nor social distancing. It seems the Board of Elections is just making extra work for it and its staff.
Or they believe in actual science and not nutters who get their info from their little echo chambers of other nutters and facebook memes.
Having two polling places ( se Baptist church and CiC ) on liberty rd is ridiculous. Less than one mile apart. What a waste of taxpayer money. But it’s easy to spend someone else’s money. No conscious.