Item 2 - Permitting the Use of County Property and Facilities for Hog Day on November 3, 2018

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Attachment B Kathy Knight, Chair Jamie Cox, Vice Chair Elvira Mebane, Secretary Bob Randall, Member Rachel B. Raper, Director October 4, 2018 VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL Orange County Board of County Commissioners Town of Hillsborough Town Commissioners RE: HOG DAY Dear Honorable Members of the Board of County Commissioner and Hillsborough Town Commission The Orange County Board of Elections (OCBOE) has recently been made aware that the Hog Day festival which was cancelled due to Hurricane Florence has been proposed to be rescheduled for Friday and Saturday, November 2 & 3, 2018 in and around River Park and downtown Hillsborough. We are delighted that this long-standing celebration of food and community will return to Hillsborough and we personally welcome the opportunity to enjoy local crafts and outstanding BBQ! However, we are deeply concerned that the organizers have chosen to reschedule this festival for a time that conflicts with the last two days of One Stop Early Voting. As you know, the Board of Elections office on Cameron Street must serve as an Early Voting site, as mandated by state statute. The site has been designated as such in the One Stop Early Voting Plan adopted by the State Board of Elections for Orange County, and the One Stop Early Voting Period begins in a matter of days. We are therefore unable to relocate this voting site to accommodate the festival. Even if relocating the site were within the power of the OCBOE at this time, we would not wish to do so, as this site has been an Early Voting site for every election in recent history and relocating it would cause confusion for voters as well as create administrative difficulties for our staff and poll workers. We have observed that in the past that the Hog Day festival brings a very large number of people into the downtown area, requires blocking streets and re-routing traffic, generates high volumes of vehicular traffic, and makes parking scarce. Given that voting must take place at the OCBOE office on these days, we believe that the festival will cause confusion for voters, increase the amount of time required for voters to get into and out of the BOE office, and has the potential to dissuade some from casting their ballot. In addition, the congestion around the festival will make it that much more difficult for our election crews from other sites around the county to return ballots and equipment to the BOE office after the One Stop period closes and they shut down their satellite sites Saturday afternoon. ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS 208 S. Cameron Street Post Office Box 220 Hillsborough, North Carolina 27278 4