LUMBERTON — Two off-duty, uniformed sheriff’s deputies were patrolling the grounds of the early voting site in Fairmont on Wednesday and plans are to have them there through the Nov. 6 general election.
Members of the county Board of Elections made the decision to hire the deputies Tuesday evening during their regular meeting after residents, campaign workers and candidates lodged complaints concerning the site at Fairmont Fire Hall, located at 421 S. Main St.
“This board jumped on it and aggressively addressed the problem,” said Steve Stone, Robeson County Board of Elections chairman.
The board took the hiring action in order to ensure the safety of the people inside and outside the voting place, Stone said. The plan is to have deputies, who will be paid by the county Board of Elections, at the site from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day the site is open.
The state Board of Elections was made aware of the county board’s action, and advised the county board on Wednesday to remove the deputies because “it looked bad,” Stone said.
“My board has not decided to do that,” he said.
People came to Tuesday’s board meeting saying voters were afraid to come to the site because some campaign workers were aggressive and intimating toward voters. Others complained that some people carrying voters to the site would drive aggressively to prevent campaign workers from pressuring the voters to vote for their candidates. One lady complained during Tuesday’s meeting that Wesley Clark, voting site chief judge, came out of the building, approached her and began shouting and cursing at her for crossing the white line.
By law, candidates and campaign workers are not allowed within 50 feet of the polling site building, thus preventing them from following voters to the door while pressuring them to vote one way or another. A white line marks that 50-foot area.
The lady who filed an incident report about Clark said the chief judge was angry at her even though she had been asked by a voter with poor eyesight to help her as she voted, according to the official audio recording of Tuesday’s board meeting. The lady said other people crossed the line to assist voters and were not accosted by Clark.
By law, elderly voters and voters with disabilities can request and receive assistance with voting, to include curbside assistance.
In the recording Stone is heard saying the incident report would be sent to the state Board of Elections and the county board members would discuss the incident with Clark, who was not at the meeting because he was at the Fairmont site.
The county board members voted Tuesday evening to transfer Clark to another early voting site and send that site’s chief judge to Fairmont, effective Wednesday.
Stone said he visited the Fairmont site Wednesday and spoke with campaign workers, candidates and voters. They all said they were pleased with the new voting environment, he said.
Clark could not be reached for comment. The telephone number for Clark obtained by The Robesonian at the county Board of Elections is no longer in service.
Sheriff Ken Sealey said he was not aware of any specific incidents at the Fairmont voting site. He did say that deputies are working there.
Fairmont Police Chief Jon Edwards said he was aware that something happened at the voting site.
“We didn’t get involved in that,” Edwards said. “I don’t know what occurred.”
He let the Sheriff’s Office handle the situation because it involved a county agency, Edwards said. The Fairmont Police Department will assist if it is asked to do so, but the normal procedure is to let county law enforcement respond to requests for assistance from county agencies, even if the incident happens inside Fairmont town limits.
