Countdown to the Polls
It’s almost time to step into the voting booth. If the experience goes smoothly, you can thank Emily Gregg.
Since joining the New Hanover County Board of Elections in May as outreach specialist, her primary focus has been to improve the voter experience. While reaching new voters is also a critical part of her job, she wants to be certain that nothing stands in the way of a pleasant experience at the polls.
Born and raised in High Point, Gregg moved to Wilmington when her historian husband procured his dream job at Fort Fisher. Gregg’s extensive graphic design and marketing experience – she majored in graphic design at Meredith College – may seem a stretch from the Board of Elections, but she says she uses that skill set almost every day in her job.
“They’ve given me the liberty of creating brochures, banners for events. It’s been a good opportunity to try something new and still use my degree,” she says. “I have worked in health care and higher education, so I sort of always worked in a public service, customer service type of industry.”
As the outreach specialist, reporting to the elections director, Gregg seeks out potential voters at events around the county. She searches for events that will attract a large audience, then sets up a table to answer questions about voting, to help with voter registration, and to give out literature about the voting process.
She has done especially heavy recruiting at University of North Carolina Wilmington and Cape Fear Community College. A drive on National Voter Registration Day in September yielded eighty new student registrations.
“I feel students are our untapped resource for voting and precinct officials,” she says.
Recruiting and training precinct officials are other big pieces of her job.
“On election day we have 300 to 600 people who help us at all the polling locations,” Gregg says, pointing out that New Hanover County has more than forty locations. “My job is to recruit them and train them. I’m the liaison for those people, making sure they have what they need to help us on Election Day. They are the meat of the board of elections.”
Those workers are paid $120 for working on Election Day and an additional amount for attending training classes. Gregg is encouraging students to also get involved as precinct workers.
This year’s election is for municipal offices in Wilmington, Carolina Beach, Wrightsville Beach, and Kure Beach.
For the upcoming municipal election, a few changes are coming based on past experience and surveys conducted after the last election. Gregg said her focus is already on the presidential election year in 2016.
“We know it’s going to be a lot different. There will be a huge turnout, and the photo ID law will make it a busy year,” she says.
She emphasized that the elections office is nonpartisan so it offers no information on candidates, rather its effort is to make sure residents are educated about voting procedures.
In addition to Gregg, the local board of elections has two new faces since March, including the elections director Derek Bowens.
“I think we work well together and have implemented a lot of new ideas to make everything easier for voters and the staff,” Gregg says. “I think it will give our voters a smoother, more pleasant experience.
“My personal goal is to make it as smooth for everybody as possible.”
To view more of photographer Chris Brehmer’s work, go to www.chrisbrehmerphotography.com/
