WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT
PANDORA PASCHAL
DIRECTOR, CHATHAM COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS
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BY ELIZABETH POINDEXTER
n Pandora Paschal’s first day on the job at Chatham County Board of Elections, her boss handed her a hefty law book to read. “I thought, ‘Oh, no, what have I done?” she says. Following a 12-year banking career in Goldston, Pandora joined the county board of elections in 2004. By 2017, she became its director, managing everything from municipal and presidential elections to curbside voting and navigating COVID-19 restrictions. The Sandhills Community College alumna works year-round to implement new policies, to represent Chatham County at the state level and to prepare for the upcoming electoral season. In recent decades, she has worked to demystify the electoral process by making information more accessible and educational about how elections work. “We matter,” she says. “Elections matter. This is where democracy starts.” Pandora says transparency is more important than ever these days, even livestreaming meetings to the public during the height of the pandemic. “Once you work in elections, you either love it or hate it,” she says. “I love it. It’s very fulfilling to help people vote and be able to vote in fair and impartial elections.” Pandora channels her love of elections into energizing her team of three full-time employees on Thompson Street. The number of temporary staff and site managers can swell to more than 200, depending on the proximity to an election.
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CHATHAM MAGAZINE
PHOTOGRAPHED AT FEARRINGTON VILLAGE
APRIL / MAY 2022