Opinion from Pam Bloom – Join me on Wednesday, June 10 at 12:30 to advocate for PLAN E, 17 consecutive days of Early Voting. Wear white to support accessible voting for all. In addition, or if you can’t attend, email the Rowan County Board of Elections and let them know what plan you prefer – rowan.boe@rowancountync.gov.
“The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.” General Norman Schwarzkopf.
Seems like an appropriate reminder as it is once again time for our Board of Elections to select the Early Voting calendar for the 2026 General Election. Rowan County voters will select a U.S. Senator and over 20 more offices on national, state, and local levels. Like a Presidential Election, midterms are known to bring out the voters. So what happens next?
The Elections Board meets on Wednesday, June 10, at 12:30 pm at the Rowan Community Center to discuss and possibly vote upon the Early Voting Calendar that we will use in Rowan County next fall.
Two years ago on 4/24/24, I wrote: “A good thing happened for our community on April 16. In a unanimous vote, our Rowan County Board of Elections members selected the most accessible calendar allowed for in person Early Voting for the 2024 General Election… 17 consecutive days.”
To say it was a surprise that day to attendees upon hearing this bipartisan agreement to include all Saturdays and Sundays for consecutive voting days is an understatement. Perhaps it was because there is also bipartisan support from voters for Early Voting. “A Catawba-YouGov survey from August 2024 found strong bipartisan support for 17 days of early voting when asked if that was too short, too long, or just about right. Nearly 70% said 17 days was about right, including 75% of Democrats, 64% of Republicans, and about 68% of independent voters, according to the poll.” Join me on June 10 to advocate once again for 17 consecutive days, Plan E, as presented in the proposed plans.
Why is an easily understood and accessible Early Voting Calendar so important? It is an indication of how important we hold a citizen’s right to vote in Rowan County. I have advocated for accessible voting for years, knowing that my advocacy may very well lead to the defeat of my chosen candidates. That is itself the point. My partisan opinions should not limit my neighbor’s ability to vote.
I firmly believe that our Rowan Election Board members’ priority, as good stewards of our voting procedures, should be to listen to and serve the best needs of the voters rather than casting their vote based upon their personal views or along party lines.
To that point, I recently listened to NC Auditor Boliek, who is in charge of NC Elections, confirm on the PBS show “Focus On,” that the State Auditor is the only member of the Council of State who must swear or affirm to a nonpartisan oath in addition to a general oath.
This is very important in light of a Republican Elections Board member in Jackson County, NC, Jay Pavey, saying publicly, at their June 2, 2026 meeting, that he was pressured to not vote for an Early Voting site at Western Carolina University and stated that he was threatened (by his own Republican Party) to be removed should he vote for the university polling site. He saw it as in the best interest of his voting residents because it was needed to handle expected general election turnout.
Pavey knew the right thing to do when it was presented to him for a vote. He said, “I know that I’m bucking my party on this, and I may be a one-term member of the Board of Elections. If that’s it, that’s fine. I will stand on this hill and I will die on this hill.”
Pavey did the hard part. Even after being called in to talk to the state Republican Party Executive Committee, Pavy voted for what he knew was best for Jackson County. I hope to see our Rowan County Board of Elections surprise us as they recognize the right thing to do and repeat their unanimous and bipartisan vote of 2024 once again in 2026. Join me on June 10 to advocate for 17 consecutive days, Plan E.
Opinion by Pam Bloom