(File photo)
The state Board of Elections dismissed along party lines complaints about county elections board members in Wake and Rowan Counties who declined to remove ballots of voters who had died before Election Day, contrary to instructions.
Complaints about three Wake County elections board members and four Rowan board members sought removal from their posts.
Democrats on the Wake County Board of Elections voted to count the ballots of three people who voted early but died before Election Day. The Wake board heard emotional pleas from the deceased voters’ relatives and supporters. The Wake board did remove ballots of 42 deceased voters, WRAL reported.
Democrats hold 3-2 majorities on the State Board of Elections and on county elections boards.
It’s been the practice for years for ballots cast by people who voted early but died before Election Day to be removed.
County elections boards receive “numbered memos” from state staff detailing how they should handle particular situations. Such a memo from 2022 tells local boards to remove ballots of deceased voters. The complaint filed against the Wake board members also quotes a state law that says people registered to vote are disqualified through death.
A Rowan County resident sought to remove four members of that local elections board because they did not vote to remove 13 deceased voters’ ballots. A motion at a Rowan board meeting to remove the ballots failed because no one seconded it, according to the complaint.
Democrats on the state elections board voted not to move forward with the complaints, while its two Republican members said they had enough evidence to call for hearings.
Two of the state board’s Democrats said the law is unclear.
“It is disturbing when our memos are not adhered to,” said Jeff Carmon, a Democratic member. “The lack of clarity from our legislature gives them an out.”
However, Republican board members said they abided by the numbered memo instructions when they were members of county boards, even if they didn’t always agree with them.
Republican member Stacy “Four’ Eggers IV, said it’s been the rule to discard the ballots of deceased people for decades.
“To me, that’s a serious breach of duty on behalf of some of these county board members that they cannot follow clearly outlined instructions,” Eggers said.
Board Chairman Alan Hirsch, a Democrat, said the local board members’ actions were “ill-advised,” but that no further action was needed.
Eggers responded: “It is ill-advised to send the message that our numbered memos can be ignored.”
Hirsch asked state staff to tell the local board members to follow regulations.
The state board voted unanimously to dismiss complaints about a Henderson County elections board member who sent Republican legislators an email last year urging them to step in to stop “a concerted effort to turn Henderson County blue.”
State board members said she did not intend for the email to become public, so decided not to move forward with a hearing.