A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request was sent to the Catawba County Election Department on October 30, 2024. The request was made by us at Hickory Sun, a media organization dedicated to providing comprehensive and accurate news coverage on local governmental affairs.
We requested records under the North Carolina Public Records Law, G.S. §132-1., specifically seeking information about pre-election testing of voting machines used in the county's elections. The desired format for these records is electronic, preferably in PDF format.
The specific fields we requested in the report include the test date, machine manufacture, machine model number, and machine status indicating whether it passed or failed during testing.
As a media organization, our role involves gathering and reporting news to the public. Access to public records is essential for us to fulfill our professional responsibilities which include holding public institutions accountable and providing transparency to the public.
In line with this mission, we believe we are eligible for a fee waiver as a media professional. We continue to strive towards keeping our readers informed about important issues that affect them directly such as election processes and voting equipment reliability.
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