Editorial: Kudos to the Board of Elections for working to educate voters
In photo above: Forsyth County Board of Elections Chairman Ken Raymond. (Photo by Todd Luck)
At its monthly meeting on Thursday, May 21, the Forsyth County Board of Elections covered several topics. However, topics on voter registration and voter education brought out compassion and concern from the elections director and the board, which we applaud.
BOE Director Steve Hines expressed frustration with the fact that he has to turn down 16- and 17-year-olds who attempt to pre-register to vote because of the voting law passed in North Carolina – the law the N.C. NAACP is trying to have struck down. He mentioned the number of teens is 140. Hines called the new requirement “an election director’s nightmare” because it could discourage young people from registering at all.
The board unanimously approved letting Hines draft and send the teens a letter explaining the change in the law and encouraging them to register.
We also applaud the board for making an effort to educate voters on the new voting law.
Hines encouraged groups to contact the BOE to schedule a speaking engagement.
“I think we can take care of our own in Forsyth County and we’re going to try to do that,” he said.
