Buncombe County elections officials told the county Board of Elections on Nov. 4 that early voting for the upcoming municipal election reached 951 voters, an increase from 618 in the comparable prior municipal election, and reviewed detailed election‑day operations, staffing and data‑transfer procedures.

Director Dawson (elections office) said, “So we ended at 951 voters for this election… the last election… had 618 voters,” and described staffing: poll workers have supplies and will complete site setup by 07:30; the poll opening time is 06:30 on election day. The office also held a media availability earlier in the day and said the poll workers were setting up sites.

Why it matters: higher early voting signals stronger participation in these municipal contests and affects staffing and processing demands for absentee and election‑day procedures. The board’s operational plan determines where staff will be based, how absentee meetings are scheduled and how electronic results are collected and verified.

Operational plan and timing
- Staff and the emergency team will be at headquarters or the warehouse starting at 05:30 a.m.; board members need not be in person until 5 p.m. but must be reachable during the day.
- The office plans three absentee meetings between 5:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (5:00 p.m.; 7:30 p.m. for the third meeting), with the abstract and close sequence following those meetings.
- Closing sequence: when early voting closes at 7:30 p.m., absentee processing and DS200 flash‑drive transfers will begin; staff will bring flash drives to the board room for processing and then move materials to the warehouse for final reporting.

Staff warned the timing may vary: “My favorite part of election day is moving over there to that warehouse. I'm a little worried that we that they're gonna be done by the time…,” staff said, noting the team will “play that by ear” if warehouse timing differs.

Other operational notes
- The office confirmed it meets the State Board’s minimum emergency assistant staffing (stated as minimum of 8) and routinely uses more, particularly in larger elections.
- The office runs scheduled media availabilities to improve transparency and media familiarity with municipal contests.

Ending: Staff asked board members to be available by phone on election day and reminded members breakfast and an early morning meeting are scheduled for the next day; the board adjourned after completing preparations.