Paige Barnes (left) administers the Oath of Office to the newly-reappointed members of the Alexander County Board of Elections, from left to right: Twyla Price, Martha Schronce, Ray Warren, Cheryl Millsaps, and Nancy Sharpe.
Gary L Herman
On July 18, 2023, five members of the Alexander County Board of Elections were sworn in for another term. The State Board of Elections reappointed members Cheryl Millsaps, Twyla Price, Martha Schronce, and Nancy K. Sharpe. Additionally, Governor Roy Cooper reappointed Ray Warren to serve as the board Chair. The board members will serve two-year terms, which expire in July 2025.
Every two years, state statute requires the NC State Board of Elections to appoint four members, two from each leading party, to the county boards of elections. The Governor appoints the fifth member, who serves as chair. The state chairs of the Democratic and Republican parties recommend three registered voters in each county for appointment.
County boards of elections are the only statutory, bipartisan, quasi-judicial supervisory board in state and local government. Duties of county boards of elections are set out in state statute, and include appointment of election day precinct officials, review and counting of absentee-by-mail and provisional ballots, selection of early voting and election day voting sites, and certifying the accuracy and integrity of election results.
“I’m thankful for these five members of our community and their renewed commitment to efficient, impartial, and honest elections,” said Patrick Wike, Alexander County Elections Director. “This board has set a high bar of acting by a unanimous vote on matters and a consistent 5-0 vote speaks for itself.”
Each county board of elections has a director of elections. The county board members choose the person they would like to be the director. The county director has day-to-day responsibility for supervising employees and attending to the dozens of tasks associated with conducting elections. The board may delegate to the director as much of its work as it wishes, other than its policy-making and quasi-judicial duties.
For more information, contact Patrick Wike at (828) 632-2990