From Staff Reports 

The Asheville Police Department has announced that it will schedule extra officers to work on Election Day (Nov. 3) for those worried about security during a a highly charged political season, with some pundits predicting that civil unrest and violence — perhaps even a civil war — could break out in the aftermath.

“We received emails from numerous members of the public, and some phone calls where folks were concerned that potentially groups from different political perspectives might show up at the polls and attempt to influence their vote or perhaps limit their access to the polls,”APD Deputy Chief Mike Yelton told Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) in a report broadcast Oct. 23. 

Because of those worries, Yelton said voters will see more uniformed officers patrolling dozens of Asheville polling places on Election Day.

“We’ve taken measures to ensure we’ve got staff ready to respond,” Yelton told News 13. 

“We are bringing in extra personnel specifically for Election Day, and they’ll be ready to respond to any situations that are outside the abilities of the chief judge at that particular polling site to control.”

What’s more, the television station reported, “Buncombe County residents are voting early in record numbers. While some are anxious about COVID-19, others said they are troubled by the heated times that are divisive.”

Yelton said the APD is preparing to make sure that peace prevails, no matter who gets the most votes. 

“Our main goal is to ensure the public has the ability to go out and cast their votes safely,” Yelton told News 13.

Meanwhile, in addressing questions about election safety, Buncombe County Emergency Preparedness Director Fletcher Tove told the Bunombe County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 6 that local officials are taking steps to deal with voter intimidation, civil unrest and other problems that may arise from the election that ends Nov. 3.

Tove told the commissioners that local officials started meeting — beginning in mid-September — to discuss “our biggest concerns going forward until election season — what we anticipate as our biggest threats...

“We focused on how we restore power, potentially move people,” Tove said. “And then we focused on public unrest in the week following the election itself.”

Voting to end Nov. 3; huge legal fight sure to follow, pundits say

From Staff Reports

Voting will end Nov. 3, which is Election Day, highlighted by a presidential election billed as the most important in America’s history, as well as many offices down the ballot

After experiencing a lengthy, hard-fought and emotional campaign, Western North Carolina residents will have an opportunity to cast ballots at polling sites, which will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 3. 

As all known political pundits are saying, no one should expect to know the winner of this election on Nov. 3 because millions of voters across America have been casting their ballots by mail this election due to safety concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It may take up to 10 days before the Board of Elections begins counting the mail-in votes, experts have said. 

However, those who cast their ballots through early voting or on Election Day, Nov. 3, will be included in the preliminary totals reported on Election Night. 

The final, official vote tally will come later —  after all absentee ballots are counted.