Today on WBT’s Pete Kaliner Show, State Board of Elections member Kevin Lewis talked about news this week that county early voting plans were due three months ahead of schedule for the 2024 General Election.

The concerns raised in the interview centered on the undue burden to county boards of elections, who will be conducting runoff elections, will be forced to enter in to agreements and develop plans without having a county budget for the year in place.

Lewis: "Part of my job as a state board member is to promote confidence and the integrity of our election system... And so it is disappointing actions are perceived to be partisan when we really need to be either nonpartisan or bipartisan in administering elections."

As Kaliner noted in a follow up segment, the current Democratic-led State Board of Elections would lose their partisan advantage to enact county plans if SB 749 is enacted.

Kaliner: "That's what they're trying to do an end run around right now. That's the obvious thing here."

Listen to the segment here.

The State Board of Elections’ own 2024 master calendar lists the date for plans to be approved as August 2 and it is noted as a Best PracticeRACTICE.

There is also no explanation for the change. See Director Bell's email announcing the deadline below:

In response to Bell's email, Alexander County Elections Director Patrick Wike stated, "the State Board is deviating from historical precedent" and "Blindsiding counties with adopting early voting plans 3 months ahead of established time tables in the midst of conducting a May 14 second primary is incredibly disappointing."

Bottom Line -- The State Board of Elections and Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell must answer: 1) Why the change in process and 2) Is the NCSBE going forward with this change in order to avoid an unfavorable ruling in the SB 749 lawsuit.