The Watauga County Board of Elections plans to open an early voting site in Foscoe in the week before the Nov. 6 general election, Elections Director Jane Hodges said this week.

An early voting site at the Foscoe Fire Department on N.C. 105 will replace an early voting site previously located at the Boone Town Council Chambers on Blowing Rock Road in Boone. The site will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the evening.

“We’re going to try something new,” Hodges said, noting that the Blowing Rock Road site was not used as much as the board had anticipated. “Groups and people have asked us to go more out in the community.”

Hodges said the board tried an early voting site in Cove Creek in the past that did not attract many voters.

The board will also operate early voting sites at the elections office in the Watauga County Courthouse and in the ASU student union, as it has in previous elections.

On Monday, the board planned to submit a $26,775.98 payment for election equipment upgrades.

Election equipment upgrades could have been funded through federal funds appropriated through the Help America Vote Act, but the General Assembly did not spend approximately $600,000 in state funds for elections needed to “release” $4.1 million in HAVA funds.

Because of this, the Watauga County Board of Commissioners voted to pay for equipment upgrades through the county budget, Hodges said.