NC’s elections are strong. Now let’s build the next generation.

As I conclude my service as elections liaison for the North Carolina Office of the State Auditor and return to the private sector, I leave with something I did not fully expect when I accepted the position: renewed optimism about the future of election administration in North Carolina.

For three decades, I viewed elections primarily through the lens of politics — as a campaign professional, political communicator, and advocate. My work through the Auditor’s Office gave me a different perspective. I worked with county board members, election directors, deputy directors, State Board of Elections professionals, and public servants across all 100 counties whose daily mission is to conduct elections that are secure, accessible, and worthy of public confidence.

I am proud of what was accomplished during my tenure. The 2025 municipal elections and 2026 primary offered more early-voting locations, hours, and weekend opportunities than comparable preceding elections. Once the 2026 general-election plans are final, I confidently expect the data to show that expanded access continued for a third consecutive election.

That progress matters. It proves that secure elections and expanded voting opportunities are not opposing goals; North Carolina can achieve both. It also shows that broad, open and fair voting access has bipartisan support. Despite partisan, hair-on-fire reactions to modest changes in early-voting plans, access to the ballot box is not — and will not be — in retreat.

The transfer of authority to appoint members of election boards from one constitutional officer to another generated intense political debate. That was understandable. But one can oppose that change while still working across party lines to improve the long-term administration of our elections.

That should now be our focus.

North Carolina’s election system is secure, accurate, transparent and strong. It is not perfect; no system is. Successful institutions cannot become complacent. We should use this moment to invest in the people, technology, and infrastructure that can make an already strong system even better.

Let’s not allow the strength of today’s election system become the enemy of an even better system tomorrow. Let’s also not let legitimate concerns become a reason to doubt the system as a whole, but rather a reason to make steady and transparent improvements.

Those gains are worth defending, but they are also a starting point. The same experience that gives me confidence in North Carolina’s elections also points to where the system needs sustained attention: rural access, professional capacity, worker recruitment, technology, and regular review.

The path forward should be practical and focused: Give rural counties more flexibility, build a stronger professional pipeline, recruit a new generation of election workers, finish technology modernization, and use audits to keep improving.

PROVIDE FLEXIBILITY FOR RURAL EARLY VOTING

The clearest opportunity to improve voting access is in North Carolina’s rural communities, where distance, geography, and cost can make equal access harder to deliver through a one-size-fits-all early-voting model.

North Carolina should allow its smallest counties to open additional early-voting locations for limited periods instead of requiring every site to operate for the full early-voting period.

North Carolina has developed a reasonable process for selecting early-voting locations and schedules. The process involves discretion, which brings advocacy, funding considerations, negotiation, compromise, and occasionally a little horse trading.

That can be messy, but it generally works. Access has continued to expand. Elections remain primarily locally managed, and voters have abundant options for casting their ballots.

The exception is North Carolina’s least populous counties, where early-voting options remain sparse. Twenty-five counties have only the single required early-voting site, and another 25 have just two sites. Without greater flexibility, population density, geography, and cost make additional locations unlikely. In major elections, voters in the largest counties are often within a 10-minute drive of an early-voting location. Rural voters must travel substantially farther.

Reasonable people can disagree about whether North Carolina needs a full 17-day early-voting period for every election, including primaries, where motivated partisans are most likely to vote even with fewer days.

Regardless of how many early-voting days state law requires, the 50 smallest counties should have greater flexibility to open satellite or annex sites for only part of the early-voting period.

Consider Corolla on the northern Outer Banks in Currituck County. Some voters face nearly a three-hour round trip to cast an early ballot in person at the Board of Elections. Yet the area lacks enough population to justify the expense of operating a site for the full early-voting period. Even two days of in-person early voting in Corolla would provide a major service to rural voters — but the law must change to allow it.

Every county would continue operating its required main location throughout the full statutory period. A rural county could also open an additional site in an outlying community for several strategically selected days. This approach already works well on Ocracoke and Bald Head Islands and in the community of Belhaven.

Bigger counties can more easily keep all sites open on standardized schedules by adding fewer sites or consolidating locations without significantly affecting voters. Rural counties have no such ability.

Requiring every location to operate every day can make additional sites financially or logistically impossible. Limited-duration annex sites could provide more locations and better geographic access — not less — while respecting staffing and budget realities.

The question should not be whether every county follows an identical model. It should be whether each county gives its voters meaningful and convenient opportunities to participate.

INVEST IN THE PROFESSIONALS WHO RUN OUR ELECTIONS

North Carolina is fortunate to have outstanding county election directors, deputy directors, and election employees. They are among the most capable and dedicated public servants I encountered in government.

Yet many counties — particularly smaller and rural ones — struggle to recruit and retain qualified employees. Salaries are not always competitive with other local-government positions that carry fewer responsibilities and far less public pressure.

Great election directors do not fall from the sky. They must be recruited, educated, trained, mentored, and rewarded with competitive pay as they advance through their careers.

That shortage is not just a staffing problem; it is a capacity problem. North Carolina should respond by creating a statewide Election Administration Academy through a partnership among the UNC System, North Carolina Community College System, State Board of Elections, county election officials, and Office of the State Auditor.

We do not need to reinvent the wheel.

Models already exist. Auburn University offers a graduate certificate in election administration within its public-administration program, while Oakland University in Michigan has created a more accessible non-degree certification program for current workers, students and career changers.

North Carolina could combine the best features of both approaches through two complementary educational tracks: one for traditional college students and graduates and one for high school graduates, career changers, and community members seeking practical certification.

The first would serve college graduates and students in public administration, political science, information technology, cybersecurity, and related fields. It would create a professional pathway into county election offices and prepare graduates to become deputy directors, directors, and senior state election officials.

The second would be a practical certificate program offered through community colleges and continuing-education programs. It should be open to young workers, career changers, military veterans, current county employees, and anyone seeking a meaningful public-service career.

Coursework should include election law, voter registration, budgeting, physical security, cybersecurity, emergency planning, communications, and election operations. Students should also complete internships or supervised projects with county election offices.

After they are hired, these professionals would continue receiving the extensive training provided by the State Board of Elections. Many could begin in smaller counties, build their skills and eventually advance to leadership positions in larger jurisdictions.

That would create a genuine career ladder instead of leaving counties to hope qualified applicants appear when critical positions become vacant.

MAKE ELECTION SERVICE APPEALING TO A NEW GENERATION

The professional pipeline is only one part of the workforce challenge. North Carolina must also make a sustained investment in recruiting the next generation of nonpartisan election-season workers.

The nation’s election workforce is aging. The US Election Assistance Commission reports that the average poll worker is 61 or older. In the 2024 general election, most of the nation’s more than 770,000 poll workers were over 61, while nearly half of election jurisdictions reported significant difficulty recruiting and retaining enough workers. Young adults remain only a small share of the election workforce.

Every county I worked with emphasized this growing labor shortage, compounded by a broader decline in civic engagement.

We need a sustained, professionally funded statewide campaign to recruit nonpartisan Election Ambassadors: trained election-season workers who help counties staff voting locations, support voters, and protect confidence in the process.

This must be more than notices posted on county websites shortly before an election. It should be a sophisticated, year-round civic-marketing effort that makes election service attractive, respected and even exciting.

Imagine polished television, streaming, and digital advertisements featuring real North Carolina election workers explaining why they serve. Picture joint ads by former Democratic and Republican governors, or an ad featuring the Republican State Auditor and Democratic Secretary of State. Social-media videos could show young people operating electronic poll books, welcoming voters and helping their communities. Recognizable branding, shirts, badges and certificates could make “Election Ambassador” a title people are proud to earn.

The message should be direct: Protect the process, not the outcome.

Election Ambassadors would serve neither a political party nor a candidate. They would serve their neighbors, communities and the democratic process itself.

Recruitment partnerships should include high schools, community colleges, universities, veterans’ organizations, retired teachers, civic clubs, faith communities, and major employers. State government could encourage businesses to provide paid civic leave for employees who serve. Colleges could offer service credit, internships, or recognition to students who complete training and work during elections.

Every county should have a deep, diverse, and continually replenished bench of trained citizens ready to serve. Building that bench requires a sustained statewide recruitment and marketing campaign.

FINISH MODERNIZING ELECTION TECHNOLOGY

At the State Auditor’s Office, we created the Modernization of Election Data Systems (MEDS) Commission to provide practical advice and assistance as North Carolina modernizes its election-management systems — and to help keep that work transparent and bipartisan.

The commission has helped prepare North Carolina to launch a modern campaign-finance system for the 2028 elections and begin a full overhaul of election data systems. Large government technology projects are difficult, and the auditor and State Board of Elections deserve immense credit for taking on this thankless work. There will be hiccups, but North Carolina must finish the job. That means funding installation, managing the transition, and maintaining and updating the system so the state is never again 25 years behind in election data management. The legislature has already provided partial funding, but we need to finish the job.

CHECK UNDER THE HOOD

Modern systems are essential, but technology alone will not keep election administration healthy. Once new tools are in place, North Carolina should also build a habit of regular operational review. That’s why I remain an enthusiastic supporter of Auditor Dave Boliek’s plan to conduct professional performance audits of election administration.

This is not about counting votes or examining outcomes. It is a tool to help the counties that manage elections improve.

A performance audit is not an accusation, criminal investigation, or search for scandal. It is a management tool designed to help good organizations become better.

With 100 counties of different sizes, budgets, buildings and operating practices, it makes sense to check under the hood periodically.

Are election records properly stored? Are buildings physically secure and safe? Is equipment maintained? Is technology current? Are contingency plans realistic? Are state funds used effectively? Can procedures be improved before a small weakness becomes a serious problem?

Businesses, hospitals, universities, and government agencies routinely examine their operations this way. Election offices should not be treated differently simply because elections are politically sensitive.

Thoughtful audits by professional auditors — working cooperatively with county officials and the state board — can identify best practices, recommend improvements and strengthen public confidence.

The professionals in the Office of the State Auditor are well prepared to advance this work, assist with technological modernization, and help state leaders think strategically about the long-term needs of election administration.

North Carolina has built an excellent election system. That achievement belongs to thousands of county employees, board members, poll workers and state professionals who understand the seriousness of their responsibilities, and it gives the state a strong foundation for the next generation of election administration.

Building on that foundation means investing in durable capacity: flexible access for rural voters, a trained and fairly compensated workforce, modern technology, a larger civic-service bench and regular operational review. North Carolina’s system is strong. The task now is to make it even more resilient for the voters, communities, and public servants who will rely on it for decades to come.