Buncombe County seeks feedback on 2026 early voting sites, hours

Buncombe County voters have a chance to shape where and when early voting will happen for the 2026 general election before county officials lock in the fall plan. A five-question survey, available in English and Spanish, asks residents about the number of locations, weekend hours and other details, with responses due by 5 p.m. Friday, June 19.

Election Services staff are recommending 12 early voting sites for the general election, along with weekend hours that would use just one poll-worker shift per day on Saturdays and Sundays. The proposal would close the first early-voting weekend and reopen the second weekend from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, and Sunday, Oct. 25. Weekday hours would run from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and the last Saturday would be open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. State rules require the same hours at every one-stop site if any site is open.

The proposed sites include Bee Tree Fire Station in Swannanoa; Black Mountain Library; East Asheville Library; Enka-Candler Library; Fairview Library; Leicester Community Center; North Asheville Library; South Buncombe Library; Weaverville Community Center; Wesley Grant Southside Center in Asheville, in place of the Board of Elections office; West Asheville Library; and either the former County Permits & Inspections office on Valley Street or Friendship Center on Shiloh Road, both in Asheville. County officials say some of the library sites remain tentative unless a more suitable location is found by July 14.

The county’s push for feedback reflects how early voting can either widen access or make it harder, depending on a voter’s work schedule, transportation and distance from the nearest site. That is especially true in Buncombe County, where residents in Asheville’s neighborhoods, outlying mountain communities and towns such as Black Mountain, Candler, Fairview, Leicester, Swannanoa and Weaverville often face very different travel patterns. The county says early voting is its most flexible in-person voting option, and state law lets voters cast ballots at any early voting site in the county, register during early voting through same-day registration and update a name or address within the county.

Buncombe County’s 2026 primary early voting plan used 11 sites and ran Feb. 12-28, with weekday hours of 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and shorter weekend hours. That plan was approved by the Buncombe County Board of Elections on Oct. 14, 2024, and local voting advocates said early voting remains the county’s most popular voting method, with more than 70,000 ballots cast in the 2022 midterm general election. The statewide early voting period for the November 2026 general election begins Thursday, Oct. 15, and ends at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, with Election Day set for Tuesday, Nov. 3.