@NCCapitol
After resignations mid-election, state replaces Robeson elections board members
Two members resign and a third may eventually be forced out after complaints filed in a 9th Congressional District county.
Posted — Updated
By Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter
RALEIGH, N.C. — The State Board of Elections replaced a pair of Robeson County Board of Elections members Thursday after complaints and a couple of resignations.
A third member of the five-person board may eventually be replaced; a complaint against Chairwoman Tiffany Peguise-Powers is pending.
The changes came as early voting wrapped up early due to Hurricane Dorian in Robeson County, where a special election is underway in the 9th Congressional District.
The complaints accused board members of publicly supporting candidates in that race, according to The Robesonian newspaper. That would violate state rules requiring sitting board members to refrain from public statements for or against candidates.
Republican Olivia Oxendine and Democrat Karen Nance both resigned from the board. They'll be replaced by Wilton Keith Shooter and Marion Thompson, respectively.
Votes for the new appointments were bipartisan and unanimous Thursday.
The board initially planned to deal Thursday with the still outstanding complaint against Peguise-Powers but punted that earlier this week to a later date. Peguise-Powers told The Robesonian that the social media photos included in the complaint against her were posted by someone else, and that she wasn't on the Board of Elections when they were taken.
The 9th District race culminates Tuesday. It's a do-over election after last year's results were thrown out following a lengthy investigation of an absentee ballot harvesting operation that led to multiple criminal indictments.
The State Board of Elections has also seen some high-profile resignations recently, including a former chairman who left last year after some of his social media posts came into question.
• Credits
Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
