Polling site opening delayed after precinct judge shows up late

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A local polling site’s opening was delayed on Election Day after campaign workers said a precinct judge showed up late.

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The chief precinct judge at Landsdowne Elementary off Providence Road in south Charlotte told Channel 9 that she had car trouble Tuesday morning and got to the polling site a few minutes late.

She apologized for the delay it caused the polling workers and those who lined up to vote. A campaign worker told us there were about 10 people waiting.

“I got here about 6:15 a.m., got everything set up. We were waiting and we had to explain to people that the judge was not here and there would be a little bit of a delay for voting. Some people left and came back because this is basically a neighborhood precinct. They came back. We saw them come back,” Steve Coen, Precinct Democratic Chair, said.

The polling location was back up and running around 7 a.m.

The chief precinct judge said there are about 1,200 people in the precinct and that the majority of people voted early. Poll workers are expecting 200 to 300 people for the entire day, which is a historic low.

Channel 9 asked Coen if things would have been different if we saw turnout numbers on Election Day like years past and he said it would have been a “nightmare.”

“2016 and 2018, we had people all the way out the door, up the sidewalk waiting to vote,” Coen said.

As of 11 a.m., 85 people had voted at the site, which will stay open until 7:30 p.m. when polls close across the state.

63% of registered voters in Gaston County have already cast their ballot

Cox Media Group