North Carolina
Democrats, Republicans trade blame, insults after NC Board of Elections search tool goes down for much of state
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — North Carolina Democrats and Republicans traded barbs on Saturday after a voter lookup tool on the state Board of Elections website was down for several hours, affecting much of the state.
The “voter lookup” tool on the North Carolina State Board of Elections, also known as the voter search, allows potential voters to find information about their polling places, among other data.
On Saturday, early voting was still underway ahead of Election Day on Tuesday.
The North Carolina Democratic Party first raised the issue, with an “unofficial” claim that the tool was not functioning in 94 out of 100 counties.
“When Dave Boliek first took over the Board of Elections, he removed career election professionals to fill his leadership with inexperienced, partisan appointees. Now, on the last day of early voting before our municipal elections, the NCSBE Voter Search tool went down,” said part of a statement from NCDP Chair Anderson Clayton.
Clayton also said there were problems at polling places where “poll workers are having difficulty quickly identifying and registering voters.”
Saturday night, NCBOE officials said the tool was back up and working. Patrick Gannon, spokesman for the NCBOE, said he could not confirm that 94 counties were not functioning earlier, but told CBS 17 it was down for most of the state.
Gannon also stated that there was “no disruption” at any polling place.
“Anderson Clayton, Chair of the NC Democratic Party, is either ignorant or intentionally spreading misinformation,” part of an emailed statement from Gannon said.
Republicans said significant work has been underway to update software — and blamed Democrats for neglect.
“Since his first day as executive director, Executive Director Sam Hayes has been working diligently to update election software that was neglected by the previous director and the then-Democratic majority,” part of a statement from Gannon said.
Democrats appeared to focus on Dave Bolick, the North Carolina State Auditor.
“It’s clear that Republicans were wrong when they said that making Boliek the only State Auditor in the country that controls elections would not impact voting or the quality of our systems,” Clayton said in a statement.
Matt Mercer of the Republicans also issued a statement on the matter — bringing up former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper.
“It’s insulting Democrats are trying to score cheap political points when Auditor Boliek has spent his tenure in office identifying their complete failure to manage the DMV in our state and just weeks ago found former Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration delayed $83 million in benefits to North Carolina families,” Mercer said in a statement to CBS 17.
The email from Gannon included some information about Tuesday’s voting.
Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Election Day. For more information, see: 10 Tips for Election Day Voters: 2025 Municipal Elections Edition.
North Carolina and NC State, scheduled to meet just once in the men’s basketball regular season for the second consecutive season, are working to schedule a nonconference meeting in Greensboro in December, WRAL has learned.
The Atlantic Coast Conference rivals had played annual games in Raleigh and in Chapel Hill for more than 100 years before last season when the teams met just once in Raleigh. This season, the ACC scheduled just one meeting between the schools in Chapel Hill.
The additional meeting, which is not finalized, would be played Dec. 15 in Greensboro, according to a source.
The 18-team ACC moved from 20 conference games to 18 before last season in an attempt to improve the league’s NCAA Tournament credentials. It worked as the league received eight bids to the NCAA Tournament in 2026, but it also created some scheduling changes, including the elimination of a second game between NC State and UNC in most seasons.
The current conference schedule dictates that each school plays two teams twice (a primary partner and a variable partner), plays 14 teams once and misses one school altogether. In 2026-27, UNC will play Duke (primary) and Louisville (variable) twice and won’t play Clemson. NC State will play Wake Forest (primary) and California (variable) twice and won’t play Syracuse.
Greensboro was the longtime home of the conference office. The ACC men’s basketball tournament has been held at First Horizon Coliseum, formerly the Greensboro Coliseum, 29 times – the most in league history.
For decades, the ACC played a true round robin among its members — a format that became unworkable as the league grew to 12, 15 and, now, 18 basketball-playing schools.
State lawmakers have pursued various measures to force schools in the UNC System to play each other, citing the economic impact of such meetings. North Carolina and NC State are UNC System schools.
A 2024 bill would have required the two ACC schools to play each other and other in-state public universities in football and basketball. A 2025 bill, aimed at potential conference realignment, would have required that NC State and UNC play each annually in football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball. The Senate’s 2025 budget proposal would have required more basketball games between UNC, NC State and smaller schools across the state. The budget would have added UNC and NC State to the schools that receive annual distributions from sports betting tax revenue.
None of those measures have become law.
NC State and North Carolina have been conference mates since 1911, first in the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association, then in the Southern Conference and now the ACC. Both have been members of the ACC since its 1953 founding.
There is some sad news from the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission’s popular Barn Owl Live Cam.
Wildlife officials say a Great Horned Owl entered the barn Wednesday around midnight and killed one of the barn owl owlets. Biologists have not been able to determine which owlet was lost.
They have confirmed it was one of the three youngest birds in the nest. The Wildlife Commission says the incident is heartbreaking but also a natural part of life in the wild.
Great Horned Owls are one of the main predators of Barn Owls, and encounters between the two species do happen. The attack was captured on the live camera.
Officials say the video also shows an extremely rare moment when the adult female Barn Owl fought the Great Horned Owl on top of the nest box. Despite the loss, the surviving owlets are expected to continue growing over the coming weeks.
They will lose their fluffy down feathers, begin exploring outside the barn, and continue developing hunting skills.
The Wildlife Commission says some of the young owls could leave the nest as early as July.
After leaving the nest, they usually travel alone and may eventually move hundreds of miles from where they hatched. The Barn Owl Live Cam remains available for the public to watch.
(WLOS) — In a tragic update, one of the baby barn owls being monitored by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has died after a great horned owl entered the barn and killed the owlet. The barn owlets had attracted worldwide attention through the wildlife commission’s ongoing observation efforts.
Officials with N.C. Wildlife said it is not yet clear which owlet was killed, but confirmed it was one of the three youngest.
The wildlife commission said it captured a photo of the great horned owl and the adult female barn owl fighting on top of the box, calling it an “extremely rare encounter to capture on camera.”
PHOTOS: OWLETS ‘HOO’ GAINED WORLDWIDE FAME ARE GROWING QUICKLY INTO YOUNG ADULTS
The wildlife commission said that while this loss is tragic, it is a common encounter because great horned owls are a top predator of barn owls. Officials also said this will likely not be the last encounter.
Over the next few weeks, the commission said viewers will likely see the remaining owlets start exploring, leaving the barn and learning to hunt. The fledglings may leave the barn as early as July to start hunting on their own, according to the commission.
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