News

Elections board adds Zoom coverage for emergency meeting

By Bill Moss, Published: September 13, 2024

The skirmish over a partisan email sent to legislators by a Henderson County Board of Elections member is likely to spill into public view Monday when the local elections board gavels open an emergency called meeting.

Summer Heatherly, the county elections board director, said Friday that the emergency meeting was called by the chair, Clay Eddleman. The only item on the agenda besides minutes approval is “Discussion of Mrs. Rebuck’s Letter and the Response from the State Board of Elections.”

“It’s a board matter,” Heatherly said. “You’ll have to discuss that with them.” Asked whether she’s spoken with state Elections Director Karen Brinson Bell or other state elections officials, she responded, “It’s strictly a board matter so I don’t talk about it at all.”

Anticipating the potential for an overflow crowd in a room with limited capacity, the Elections Board on Saturday announced that the meeting would also be available on Zoom.

At issue is a 490-word email board member Linda Rebuck sent to 24 state representatives and senators on Aug. 15 warning of "a concerted effort to turn Henderson County blue" through what she criticized as lax processes for voter verification and mail-in ballots.

“I am a member of the Henderson County Board of Elections and have served on the Board for over 6 years.,” she wrote. “I am frankly very discouraged about the upcoming election. I want to strongly state my belief that if you do not intervene immediately either legislatively or legally, we are going to lose NC to the Dems in November which will likely mean we lose the country. The responsibility will be yours, one way or the other.”

Brinson Bell, the N.C. elections director, rebutted Rebuck’s email point by point on Aug. 25. A Democratic appointee, Brinson Bell called two of Rebuck's assertions false, explained in detail safeguards in place under state and federal law to ensure voting roll integrity and admonished the local board member for a lack of neutrality.

“Given the partisan statements in the above, we remind you of the requirements of Article 4A of Chapter 163 of the North Carolina General Statutes” barring elections board members from making statements that favor one party over another. “Whether or not the statements violate these provisions, it undermines the public’s confidence in the fair administration of elections if their elections officials are widely communicating their desire for a particular outcome in an election they oversee,” Brinson Bell said.

Eddleman, the county elections board chair, said the state board could take action against Rebuck on Monday, though he doubted it would.

“They have the sole authority to remove us," he said of the state board. "That is not a local decision. That has to be done by the State Board.” Any registered voter can file a complaint seeking the removal of an elections board member, although Eddleman said he was not aware of such a complaint.

“I called this meeting on Monday just so the board can have a chance to sit down and talk about it in an open session," he said. "We obviously cannot and will not do this in a session that's not open, and it needs to be talked about. What the result of that will be — I don't have any predetermined idea about that. There are several options, of course, but that again will depend upon the board.”

Among the options “would be to say that, after looking at the letter, that it is a stern reprimand to be brought — a warning or a reminder about political biases in the board — and we move on and get on with the business of this election,” he said. “Another option, of course, would be to ask for a resignation, or she possibly could resign in the meantime.”

'Concerted effort to turn Henderson County blue'

In her email to legislators, Rebuck said mail-in ballots had been accepted without the voter’s ID. “I believe this is a concerted effort to turn Henderson County blue. However, I believe that if you check with other counties, you will see that the numbers have grown substantially in every county. I have heard numbers as high as 300,000 statewide so far,” she said.

Brinson Bel responded: “Again, we caution you about statements favoring or opposing particular outcomes in the elections you oversee. We spoke with the Henderson County director, and she confirmed on August 23 that Henderson had received fewer than 150 UOCAVA requests. In 2020, according to State Board data, Henderson County received 347 requests for absentee ballots from military and Henderson County voters living abroad at the time. So, the number of requests is not necessarily high in 2024 as you suggest. Ballots go out in two weeks. It is also possible that advocacy groups and others are encouraging military and overseas voters who are U.S. citizens to request their ballots. There is nothing wrong with that and, in fact, that is activity protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”

Rebuck said: “Additionally, Henderson County has received numerous new voter applications that do not have HAVA required information to register (missing Driver's License and/or last 4 of SS or those numbers were not validated). The State BOE has instructed counties to go ahead a register them without verification.” 

"This is false," Brinson Bell responded. "The State Board, both in emails and in a statewide Huddle training session, have instructed county boards as follows," she added, describing in detail a three-step process that requires prospective voters to show a valid ID before they are able to vote.

'Preventing non-citizens from voting'

“Another concern,” Rebuck said, “is preventing non-citizens from voting. Putting the matter on the ballot in November is too little, too late.  The legislature passed SB 747 requiring clerks of superior court to provide lists of people who have been excused from jury duty indicating that they are not U.S. citizens. However, according to the SBOE this will not take place until after the November election.”

“This is false," Brinson Bell said. "The superior court clerks are (and have) provided such lists, and State Board staff is reviewing those and contacting any registered voters who are identified and for whom a state and federal database check does not show they have obtained citizenship.”

Michele Woodhouse, the Republican chair of the 13^th Congressional District, said she was aware of Rebuck’s email and Brinson Bell’s response and was trying to reach Rebuck to learn more.

“My question to the state board of elections would be, who's managing this list? How are you getting the list? How do you make sure those folks that are on there are legitimate voters?” Woodhouse said.

While she accepts the prohibition against partisanship by elections board members, Woodhouse said she views the state elections director as anything but non-partisan.

“What we know is that Karen Brinson Bell is appointed by Gov. Cooper,” she said. “Her job is supposed to be nonpartisan. But if we look at her actions during her tenure on the board of elections, she is uber-partisan in the way that she rules. There's just no question about it.

“But there are rules in place for members of the boards of elections. Linda sent this from her private email, and she didn't speak about any specific candidate, so I don't know that she violated anything. I think the interpretation from Brinson Bell is with this opening sentence, ‘I am a member of the Henderson County Board Elections,’ her interpretation is that she's speaking from that position.”