Registration for this year’s meeting will be done online or through mail. Casting a ballot in the election will constitute as successful member registration.

Members who have opted to receive their monthly FOCUS Broadband billing statement online will receive their annual meeting notice via email along with instructions on how to register using a unique code. Incoming emails will appear from the address: FOCUS Broadband Election Coordinator or noreply@directvote.net. Please ensure that this email address is whitelisted to continue to receive information and instructions about the voting process.

Members who have opted to receive their FOCUS Broadband billing statement by mail will receive their registration and voting materials by mail where they will simply fill out the registration form and return it in the postage-paid envelope that is included.

Registration materials will be sent out via email and mail on September 15^th.

The current board members, Julia F. Tripp (District 2), Justin Milliken (District 4), and H. Conrad Bryant III (Eastern Director) are running unopposed.

Registration will begin when notices are sent out on September 15^th and will end on October 5^th.

Members will receive a set of unique login credentials for access to their online ballot. On the opening day of the election these credentials will be emailed to each member who has opted to receive they FOCUS Broadband billing statement online. All other members will receive their paper ballot and registration materials by mail and their unique credential will be printed on their paper ballots. Paper ballots and registration materials will be mailed on September 15th. Members may only vote one time per membership.

Each paper ballot will have a unique ID number printed on it that is tied to your specific membership. This number is created by the company overseeing the election and it prevents a member from submitting multiple votes for the same membership. Only original paper ballots will be accepted. Photo copies or scanned copies will not be accepted.

Members who receive a paper ballot may choose to vote online in lieu of returning a paper ballot. Once an online ballot is submitted, you will not be able to login again to change a vote or resubmit. If you attempt to login after a vote has been submitted, you will get an error message alerting you that your ballot has already been submitted. If a member votes online and then submits a paper ballot, the paper ballot will be the vote that counts and the vote made online will be removed. If a member first returns a paper ballot and then submits a vote online, the paper ballot will be the only vote counted. The current slate of board members are running unopposed.

This year’s voting process will be managed by Survey & Ballot Systems, a third-party vendor who specializes in elections for cooperatives. Survey & Ballot Systems will collect and validate all votes that are filled out correctly and turned in on time.

For technical support (available Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), please call 866-909-3549 or email support@directvote.net. For any other questions, please call FOCUS Broadband Customer Care at 910-754-4311.

All voting will take place before the meeting between the dates of September 15^th and October 5^th. There will not be in-person voting on the day of the annual meeting. Registration and voting will be available online and by mail-in ballot. Registration will be available onsite the day of the meeting, but we encourage all members to register ahead of time through the online and mail-in options. Early registration will not be available at FOCUS Broadband offices the week leading up to the meeting.

All results will be announced during the meeting on October 7^th.

Members who register for the meeting will receive a $20 bill credit on their November billing statement.

A dinner will not be served at this year’s meeting.

FOCUS Broadband will award $3,000 in cash prizes including a grand prize of $750 on the Monday following the Annual Meeting on our website and Facebook page. FOCUS Broadband will not announce prize winners during the meeting. All members who register will be entered into the drawing for cash prizes.

FOCUS Broadband will announce prize winners on Monday, October 10^th. Winners will be able to pick up their prize at FOCUS Broadband’s Shallotte office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Winners will have until October 31^st to claim their prize.