The director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections says the process is already underway to make new appointments to the board. This comes after two Republican members resigned Wednesday.
In their signed resignation letters, Republican board members David Black and Ken Raymond claimed they had been misled prior to signing off on a settlement to help voters fix absentee ballot problems. They joined three Democratic state board members even over the objection of some GOP leaders Tuesday in their unanimous approval.
Referring to a statement released by the N.C. State Board of Elections, Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell says, given their wealth of knowledge and experience, the resignations are unfortunate, but she pushed back against their claim of having been misinformed.
“Prior to every board meeting, board members are briefed by our civil servants, our public servants here who are attorneys,” says Brinson Bell. “We did provide briefings to all board members, and that board meeting did last almost three hours in closed session with those attorneys.”
Brinson Bell made her comments at WFDD's virtual community conversation Thursday. The five-member board currently holds just three members — all Democrats. Bell says the Republican party will put forth names to Governor Roy Cooper who will select from that list to make appointments.