From Staff Reports 

ASHEVILLE — In the wake of Tropical Storm Helene, the Buncombe County Election Services “was able to activate an incident accident plan to be flexible, adapt and work together to make sure Buncombe County residents had the opportunity to securely vote in the 2024 election,” according to a Buncombe County press release on April 17.

On April 16, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission recognized that effort with a Clearinghouse Award in Contingency Planning: Exemplary Contingency Planning and Emergency Response Efforts.

Election Services and Emergency Services staff began working together in 2022 on an Incident Action Plan for implementation in the event of an emergency during an election and that plan proved critical in compassionately overcoming problems never encountered before.

Election Services also garnered a second Clearinghouse award in Communications: Distinguished Voter Education and Communications Initiatives for a Buncombe County Communications and Public Engagement department-produced video project “NC Together.”

The NC Together video project was a collaborative effort between the North Carolina State Board of Elections, Buncombe County CAPE, and Buncombe County Election Services. This three-part video series was designed to build trust by connecting voters to their local election officials in a personal and relatable way. The clips were woven together, creating a vibrant, statewide tapestry of election officials reassuring voters: We are here to help. NC Together.

The  Clearinghouse Awards recognize best practices in election administration and celebrate programs that took place during the 2024 presidential election year. 

Winning jurisdictions range from counties with less than 25,000 registered voters to states with over 22.9 million.