SALISBURY — Multiple voters showed up to the Rowan County Board of Elections on Feb. 24 to cast their ballots, but when they walked inside, they found something peculiar — all the lights were off and no one was there.

While the location had been used as an early-voting site the weekend before, it was supposed to be closed that day. However, because the doors were unlocked, a concerned citizen reportedly notified Rowan County Elections Director Sharon Main. 

A statement from the elections office indicated that despite the issue, no one tampered with ballots, cabinets or machinery, which was all separately and appropriately secured.

A timeline of events from that day, provided by the Rowan County Board of Elections, pointed to a scheduling error with the host company that controls the locking mechanism as the explanation for the incident. 

According to the timeline of events, at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 23, the doors were automatically locked following standard procedure, after Early Voting ended.

At 8 a.m., the following morning, the automated doors unlocked at the CBE Early Voting Site when the site was closed.

A staff member reportedly checked and confirmed that the doors were unlocked. Main immediately notified Rowan County IT Department and they contacted the door lock host company to get the doors locked back. 

In the meantime, Main reportedly instructed staff to set the manual locking feature on the doors, but it would not work. The staff member stayed in the early voting site and monitored the doors. She confirmed everything was secure and nothing was missing.

At 12:01 p.m., the doors were locked electronically from a remote location by the host company.

Main indicated that staff followed daily procedures to secure equipment and ballots at closing on Friday, which included locking interior doors, locking cabinets and securing machinery with tamper-proof seal.

“Ballots were all stored and locked in cabinets,” the timeline said. “All cabinets remained locked. The room with ballots was still locked. No one had tampered with ballots, cabinets or machinery. Laptops were logged off and required two passwords to access. No one tampered with computers. A check of the voter system confirmed no voter records were made on any machine on Saturday. 

“The DS200 tabulator had been locked and sealed. Sharon was present at opening Monday morning. The DS200 total was 1473 on Friday at closing and I was able to confirm that it was still 1473 at opening.”

The CBE Early Voting site is equipped with a security camera. On Feb. 25, security footage was reviewed and the following reported:

• No activity was detected prior to 9:05 a.m.
• At 9:05 a.m., someone was at the front door and opened it, but did not enter.
• At 9:29 a.m., someone approached the front door, opened it, but did not enter.
• At 9:55 a.m., someone approached the front door, opened it, took a step in, and then immediately exited.
• At 9:57 a.m., someone approached the front door, opened it, but did not enter.
• At 10:02 a.m., staff member from the Board of Elections entered the door and then checked the other door from inside and proceeded to try locking the doors manually. 

The timeline indicated that the doors remained locked until Monday at 8 a.m. when the site reopened for business.

“I am thankful we have good citizens that realized the area was not staffed and lights were off and acted and responded appropriately,” Main said. “It was a citizen who came to the main office and reported the open doors at 10 a.m. on Saturday.”

The door schedule was subsequently checked for accuracy for the remainder of the election and no further issues reportedly occurred.