WS Chronicle

To The Editor:

The Forsyth County Board of Election’s meeting on Thursday, December 17, (W-S Journal on 12/18/15) was an extremely important meeting that dealt with early voting sites for the March 15 primary.  As an attendee of the meeting, I observed two matters of note.

First, the discussion among the three-member board of two Republicans and one Democrat was held before a full capacity audience.  There was disagreement among the board members with the sole Democrat, Fleming El-Amin, persistently supporting a voting site plan different from the Republican majority.  I was pleased that the discussion  was open and civil and applaud the Board for such transparency in conducting the people’s business.

The second matter caused considerable concern.  The BOE Chairman, Ken Raymond, said that he could not “in good conscience” support including the Anderson Center at WSSU as an early voting site because of alleged voting irregularities he observed five years ago in 2010.  Five years ago.  As a poll worker he observed voters openly discussing having received class credit for voting.

Did Mr. Raymond report these irregularities to election officials?  Was there an investigation into the charges?  If the charges were found to be true, were measures taken to correct any impropriety?  If the answer to any of these questions is “no,” Mr. Raymond did not fulfill his obligation to report his observations and has no credible reason to dismiss the Anderson Center.

If Mr. Raymond had fulfilled his obligation, the alleged irregularities would have been corrected and the Center would be an uncontested choice as an early voting site.

A five-year span of time is an entire student generation, and what purpose is served in making present students pay for possible infractions of former students?  Of course university faculty and staff could have been admonished if rules and policies had been violated.  The Anderson Center would also be an excellent early voting site for Salem College and UNCSA students, because both campuses are approximately one mile from WSSU.

Anne Griffis Wilson

Winston-Salem