Wingate Lassiter

State and national authorities who should know what they're talking about have said we just experienced "the most secure election in American history" --- an amazing feat despite the coronvirus pandemic on top of repeated warnings about interference from foreign nations and doubts about mail service.

If you followed the work of the Johnston County Board of Elections over the past several weeks, you could certainly understand the basis for that statement. The board and its staff patiently and professionally handled an unprecedented number of absentee ballots that had to be checked for legal compliance on top of a surge in early-voting tabulations submitted daily over a three-week period.

And their work was transparent, observed in the board's meeting room by representatives of both political parties and live-streamed over the Internet. In the end, both staff and board members drew merited praise from those who watched.

"Y'all are a great staff.... You make us look good," Board Chairman Gordon Woodruff said at the conclusion of last Friday's meeting when Johnston County's election results were certified. "Y'all are a good bunch to work with," responded Elections Director Lee Anne Price.

Besides Mr. Woodruff, a Democrat, the other board members are Republicans John Shallcross Jr. and Deborah Zink and Democrats Shirley Bell and Deborah Hooker. Starting in late September, they met 15 times to check the authenticity of absentee ballots, monitor the counting process, and certify the tabulations. That's why we had decisive Johnston County results by 10 o'clock Election Night.

Correcting ballot "deficiencies" and "provisionals"

Checking each and every absentee ballot, the staff and board identified 391 "deficiencies" that required voters to "cure" their ballots with affidavits or return new ballots that met the rules of law. A total of 242 of those were corrected, approved, and counted. Voters took "no action" on the other 149, meaning they either voted in person or left well enough alone.

In addition, the staff and board reviewed 878 "provisional" ballots --- including those cast at the wrong precinct or without proper documentation --- approving 243 to be counted while disqualifying the other 611 for one reason or another.

Out of 111,732 ballots cast in Johnston County this election season, those are very small numbers.

Handling of ballots from a voter with dementia

Johnston's board had just two challenges to handle during Friday's final meeting, and both were resolved to everyone's satisfaction by unanimous vote of the five board members. One was the case of a woman who voted here by absentee ballot before moving to another county where she wanted her vote to count. The board simply discarded her Johnston County ballot.

The other challenge produced an instructive exchange about a voter's rights under the N.C. Constitution. An elderly gentleman suffering from dementia had his absentee ballot cast by his son, who has power of attorney to manage his father's affairs. Then, the staff at the assisted-living center where he resides made arrangements for him to cast a second absentee ballot, not knowing he had already voted. The son told the board his father wasn't capable of remembering casting the first ballot, and said he wasn't aware that the second ballot had been submitted.

When the board asked County Attorney Jennifer Slusser for her opinion, she said the state's Constitution guarantees a disabled person, even someone with dementia, the right to vote, and that a ballot may be marked and submitted by a close relative of an incapacitated voter according to his wishes.

Hearing that, the board voted unanimously to accept the first ballot and "spoil" the second (without opening the envelope in which it was submitted). As a result, the gentleman's initial vote, done by his son, was included in the final tabulation.

"I can't imagine a more open process," Chairman Woodruff said at the close of Friday's meeting. "It's a great process if people will just let it work."

To that we can all say Amen.