Derek Bowens doesn’t drink coffee.
Still, as Durham County’s elections director, he regularly clocks 80-hour work weeks in anticipation of November’s general election, as does his staff.
Despite the hours, his staff is staying. Bowens says his office is receiving too many applications, even needing to turn away some job candidates.
“We actually have an abundance of applicants that want to serve and execute democracy in action,” he says.
Durham should count itself lucky. In counties across the country and the state, as employees have come under threats of attack and abuse, many boards are struggling to hire and retain staff.
A troubling incident did occur in Durham during March’s primary, says Bowens. One voter tried to enter a Durham polling site 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. “That was a very real, impactful situation for me, with regard to our security posture for our polling places.”
Across North Carolina, many elections officials have met with similar incidents of harassment and intimidation.
In 2022, Surry County elections director Michella Huff faced threats and harassment from a local political leader who demanded she turn over vote counting machines. Then last month, a “white, powdery substance” was sent to the State Board of Elections in Raleigh.
Incidents like these prompted Bowens to increase security in his own offices. In addition to standard practices, such as regular sheriff patrols of early voting sites, Bowens had bulletproof glass and panic buttons installed inside the new Board of Elections offices, according to a recent interview with NBC News.
Bowens says his team has not received direct threats in the months leading up to November’s general election. Instead, the team has been focused on Election Day logistics, complicated by the move to new offices in Hope Valley. Preparations were also slowed by last-minute reprinting of ballots after Robert Kennedy, Jr. sued to have his name removed.
More recently, Bowens’ team has been busy coordinating emergency response teams, distributing ballots, answering public inquiries, and setting up operations at their new location. They also recently built an app, “DCo Votes,” to help educate voters.
Bowens says his team feels prepared to tackle this year’s general election. “I don’t really have concerns so much going in,” Bowens says. “I think we’ve done a lot of preparation from a security perspective, and of course, we’re just generally prepared for elections.”
Still, he is fearful of potential unrest after election results are announced, and of the indirect threats of mis- and disinformation.
“There’s always people that spew misinformation and disinformation. That is a threat to our democracy,” he says.
Bowens wants citizens to receive information on the election board’s recent move directly from his team. He hopes that the new location will give voters more access to the inner workings of the board in one new, consolidated facility.
“We have space for activities that are available for public observation, we now will have an early voting site at this location, hundreds of parking spaces,” he says.
Despite the challenges of this year’s preparations, Bowens maintains faith in the Durham community. He sees Durham’s culture around public engagement as the reason for the job applications that continue to hit his desk.
“Durham is a special case in terms of how our community really engages our government,” he says. “Our community puts demands on us. They also respond to those expectations by showing up when they need to.”
This culture is what energizes Bowens and his team as they work around the clock to prepare for the election. That, and taking breaks.
“We have a weekly meeting,” he says. “And that’s one of my main questions: ‘Is everybody okay?’”
Above: Derek Bowens, elections director for Durham County, stands outside the elections board’s new offices. Photo by Abigail Bromberger — The 9th Street Journal
