By james art Derek Bowens doesn’t drink coffee.
Still, as Durham County’s director of elections, he regularly maintains 80-hour work weeks in anticipation of the November general election, as does his staff.
Despite the hours, his team remains. Bowens says his office receives too many applications, even having to turn away some job applicants.
“We actually have an abundance of candidates who want to serve and put democracy into action,” he says.
Durham should count themselves lucky. In counties across the country and state, as officers face threats of assault and abuse, many boards struggle to hire and retain staff.
A troubling incident occurred in Durham during the March primary, Bowens says. A voter tried to enter a polling station in Durham after hours and made violent threats when asked to leave.
“That voter’s response was, ‘If I can’t vote with a ballot, I’ll vote with a bullet,'” Bowens says. “It was a very real, impactful situation for me in terms of our security posture at our polling places.”
Across North Carolina, many election officials have faced similar incidents of harassment and intimidation.
c 2022Surrey County Elections Director Michelle Huff faced threats and harassment from a local political leader who demanded she hand over the vote counting machines. Then last monthA “white, powdery substance” was sent to the State Board of Elections in Raleigh.
Incidents like these have prompted Bowens to increase security at his own offices. In addition to standard practices, such as regular sheriff’s patrols of early voting locations, Bowens had bulletproof glass and panic buttons installed in the Election Commission’s new offices, according to a recent an interview with NBC News.
Bowens says his team has not received any direct threats in the months leading up to the November general election. Instead, the team has focused on Election Day logistics, complicated by the move to new offices in Hope Valley. Preparations were also delayed by last-minute reprinting of ballots after Robert Kennedy Jr. filed suit to have his name removed.
Most recently, Bowens’ team has been busy coordinating emergency response teams, distributing newsletters, answering public inquiries and organizing operations at their new location. They also recently created a ‘DCo Votes’ app to help educate voters.
Bowens says his team feels ready to tackle this year’s general election. “I don’t really have that much anxiety going in,” Bowens says. “I think we’ve done a lot of preparation in terms of security, and of course we’re generally prepared for elections.”
Still, he fears potential unrest after the election results are announced and the indirect threats of false and disinformation.
“There are always people spewing misinformation and disinformation. This is a threat to our democracy,” he said.
Bowens wants citizens to receive information about recent action by the election commission directly from his team. He hopes the new location will give voters more access to the inner workings of the board in a new, consolidated facility.
“We have an activity space that’s available for public viewing, now we’re going to have an early voting space at that location, hundreds of parking spaces,” he says.
Despite the challenges of this year’s preparation, Bowens maintains faith in the Durham community. He sees Durham’s culture of community engagement as the reason for the job applications that keep hitting his desk.
“Durham is a special case in terms of how our community really engages our government,” he says. “Our community makes demands on us. They also live up to those expectations by showing up when they need to.”
That culture is what fuels Bowens and his team as they work around the clock to prepare for the election. That and taking vacations.
“We have a weekly meeting,” he says. “And that’s one of my main questions: ‘Is everybody OK?’
Above: Derek Bowens, Director of Elections for County Durham, stands outside the new offices of the Electoral Commission. Photo by Abigail Bromberger — The 9th Street Journal