When Commissioner Glenn Jones pulled into the Stillhouse Branch trailer park in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Swain County last October, he’d strayed far from the campaign path of most candidates.

The North Carolina Election Board says it could be another month or two before someone can make the trip from Raleigh to Bryson City to look into complaints of illegal voter intimidation and improper handling of absentee ballots associated with November’s election.

Clerk talks:

Dennis Stephenson, a clerk at the Bryson City post office, supplied the following statement in an affidavit taken by Swain County election board member John Herrin.

Two Swain County residents claim they were victims of illegal voter intimidation during the November election.

The following testimony was provided by Rhonda Bedsaul, 47, of Swain County. A similar account was provided by Bedsaul’s husband, Ron, 42. Both affidavits have been turned over to the state election board for further investigation.

The surge in early voting witnessed in the last election has prompted the Swain County election board to hunt for a new office location.

As the Cherokee election season gets under way in the race for chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, there’s one dynamic that won’t be at play: catering to the hundreds of enrolled tribal members who live in far-flung states.

It’s time to change the voting laws and procedures in North Carolina to reflect today’s reality and to help alleviate a confusing situation that could hurt candidates and confuse voters.

Come Nov. 7, voters will choose candidates based on many different factors. In almost all cases, those choices will be their own, as they should. But newspaper endorsements continue to serve a useful purpose for voters.

By Lee Shelton

As the Nov. 7 election date approaches, the “Good Governance Legion” is, again, “banging their noise makers” in Haywood County.