ELLERBE — The Richmond County chapter of the NAACP will host county Elections Director Connie Kelly at its monthly meeting today for a seminar on upcoming elections and the new voter ID law.
The meeting is open to the public and any individual who has questions about the election process is welcome to attend, said Richmond County NAACP President Antonio Blue.
“She can explain to not only members but anybody that’s at the meeting the new voting laws and the new things that are gonna take place in this year’s primary election and what’s going into effect this year,” Blue said.
The Richmond County Board of Elections director said she’s going to the meeting prepared to try to answer any questions anyone may have. She’ll also be handing out material.
“I’m just gonna give them an overview,” said Kelly. “Which IDs are acceptable, how long they can be expired, if they can be expired, what the requirements are if they don’t have an ID, the fact that no one will be turned away and what the provisions are with that.”
Kelly added anyone is free to voice their concerns, and if the subject is something she’s not comfortable answering she’ll take notes and bring it back to her superiors at the state level.
By visiting the N.C. State Board of Elections website at www.ncsbe.gov/ERC, Kelly said those with questions can find a lot of answers, and it’s through this site that she’ll conduct the meeting Tuesday.
“An example we’re gonna be looking at is when a voter comes in,” said Kelly. “We’re gonna ask them for their voter ID, we’re gonna set it aside and then go into our usual spiel since it’s the primary. One we look them up, we’ll check the ID again. We’re looking at resemblance and making sure that’s who that voter is.”
If a voter has a different last name but the first and middle name are the same, then that person’s ID would still be considered valid, Kelly said. If the person at the check station can’t identify the voter, then the help station will determine what can happen. At that point, the voter can offer additional information for poll workers to consider.
“In the end, no matter what the situation is, no voter will leave there without casting a provisional ballot,” Kelly said of the new voter ID law. “No one will be turned away for lack of an ID. As long as voter ID is required, and they don’t have it at that time, they can vote a provisional and bring it back.”
The Richmond County NAACP will host Kelly at 7:30 p.m. at Sidney Grove Church of Deliverance, 401 McIntyre Road, Ellerbe.
Reach reporter Matt Harrelson at 910-817-2674, follow him on Twitter@mattyharrelson and listen to him at 12:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays on G-104.3 FM.