I whole heartedly believe Brunswick County Republicans and independents are at war with the left and Democrats. Brunswick County Democrats who moved in from other democratic states have been moving to the area for 30 yrs and have been taking over the local towns and pushing democratic policies. The Republican good old boys have sat back and watched without taking any stance. Now the freedoms the locals once enjoyed and the simple lifestyle is going away and we are being nickel and dime to death to pay for extra amenities which we already had before the great migration into our beautiful county. I am so upset I have to pay to enjoy my own beaches which just 5 yrs ago I could park and enjoy with my family after a long work day.
Watch the video, there are SOME out of precenct judges confirmed…of both parties I think.
On the unaffiliated, all you have to do is run their names and see what primary ticket they pick up. NOW this does not mean they are of that party however. So, its a real guess without knowing the person.
The new BC GOP chair is, from all I can tell, MUCH BETTER than that incompetent former chairman who was really a Democrat—Bill Moore.
Thank you for your commentary about the Board of Elections. You mentioned that we should let you know if we thought you missed some factual info, so I’m taking this opportunity to address an issue or two raised in your post.
Nobody reads the Legislature’s laws for fun. But that’s part of what I signed up to do, so I read section 163-41, among others. In fact, there are 100 new Board of Elections members across NC, so the NCGOP hosted some reviews and Q&A sessions on these appointments. In the one I attended, we read the whole section, starting with the subsection a that you copied. When we got through that, we got a cup of coffee and some toothpicks to keep our eyes open and went on to subsections b and c. No problem, I signed up for this. There are a couple of run-on sentences and extended modifiers, both of which add distractions, but also add clarity to the bill.
(c)The chairman of each political party in the county where possible shall recommend two registered voters in each precinct who are otherwise qualified, are residents of the precinct, have good moral character, and are able to read and write, for appointment as chief judge in the precinct, and he shall also recommend where possible the same number of similarly qualified voters for appointment as judges of election in that precinct. If such recommendations are received by the county board of elections no later than the fifth day preceding the date on which appointments are to be made, it must make precinct appointments from the names of those recommended. Provided that if only one name is submitted by the fifth day preceding the date on which appointments are to be made, by a party for judge of election by the chairman of one of the two political parties in the county having the greatest numbers of registered voters in the State, the county board of elections must appoint that person.
Note, that if someone reads the whole section, he or she will be left with the idea that the Board must appoint nominees from the Democrats and Republicans, per state law written by the NC State legislature. Miss Melissa did not make up law from whole cloth; she and the Republicans on the Boards across the state read the whole section 163-41. In fact, Miss Melissa should be commended for the amount of work she did compiling the lists from both parties, verifying the registrations of all nominees, and supplying background info from the times that the nominees served as poll workers or officials.
The next paragraph in subsection c talks about residency in the precinct. Again, highlighting for clarity:
If the recommendations of the party chairs for chief judge or judge in a precinct are insufficient, the county board of elections by unanimous vote of all of its members may name to serve as chief judge or judge in that precinct registered voters in that precinct who were not recommended by the party chairs. If, after diligently seeking to fill the positions with registered voters of the precinct, the county board still has an insufficient number of officials for the precinct, the county board by unanimous vote of all of its members may appoint to the positions registered voters in other precincts in the same county who meet the qualifications other than residence to be precinct officials in the precinct, provided that where possible the county board shall seek and adopt the recommendation of the county chairman of the political party affected
On the issue of experience, your observation that the law does not require any experience is correct. But if you’re interested in elections that are run honestly and competently, I think we have to acknowledge that someone who is making decisions in the moment about which process to use, whether an ID is valid, or whether a ballot is properly cast, should know what the processes are and how to remedy situations that arise. The knowledge to do that comes from experience. My commitment is to fair and accurate elections where no candidate is subject to any kind of ballot misuse. My assessment of the staff in Brunswick County is that they do care about honesty and accuracy. So when someone who has never worked the polls but wants to start at the top, making decisions that he or she has never experienced, I’ll go with someone who has been in the trenches.
On the issue of precinct residency, it seems that the State Legislature wants the Boards to choose in-precinct officials. That’s why it was helpful to have Miss Melissa check the registrations of all the nominees.
If Republicans want to be the party of law and order, then it seems to me that we should all read the laws completely and try to abide by the will of the representatives in Raleigh who work on our behalf. We will need experienced, competent, and trusted officials for 2028, who will be appointed in 2027. Can I recommend that you use your pulpit and excellent verbal skills to get Republicans to volunteer for the poll worker positions, and work them diligently to gain competence and the trust of the staff and the Board of Elections? Instead of sitting on the sidelines, Republicans need to get in the game on the field. We could probably get a lot more poll workers from Republicans if they knew that it was important work. It is clear that unaffiliated voters can get jobs in the polls, build trust in their competence, and rise to become officials even though the laws prefer party registration. So, there are a lot of registered voters who can become involved in the process. And, you can use your pulpit to recruit dedicated workers, joining the people in the game who are working hard and following the laws.
you make some great points, but respectfully, being an expert at “something” does not make you qualified at said thing if your expertise is knowing how to cheat. In the medical field, this is why we have the Hippocratic oath, because, the person that knows how to heal also knows how to kill.
Further, the fact is, nothing I wrote was incorrect. We do not have to defer to the person in question. The Board runs things, and they may, by law, appoint someone outside of precinct. Period. End stop.
You comment that you will always go with someone who has experience is interesting. What if the person with “experience” has been (as has been Brunswick county if you know the history and have lived her longer than 25 years) has been Democrat. Your rationale means, Demcorats would always hold the majority even IF Republicans are the majority of the voters. Hard pass. That is a recipe for defeat.
Finally, I spent the second paragraph on the issue of Republicans preparing for what is coming. You should do the same. This board and this staff is a disgrace.
I whole heartedly believe Brunswick County Republicans and independents are at war with the left and Democrats. Brunswick County Democrats who moved in from other democratic states have been moving to the area for 30 yrs and have been taking over the local towns and pushing democratic policies. The Republican good old boys have sat back and watched without taking any stance. Now the freedoms the locals once enjoyed and the simple lifestyle is going away and we are being nickel and dime to death to pay for extra amenities which we already had before the great migration into our beautiful county. I am so upset I have to pay to enjoy my own beaches which just 5 yrs ago I could park and enjoy with my family after a long work day.
I remember the free beaches. And, you are correct that the native Republicans, like Frank Williams, may as well just be Democrat.
We have a long slog ahead of us.
I’m curious about some of the details. They might be actionable if y’all can install a country party chair who isn’t party of the Uniparty.
In the meantime, did anybody dig into the voting record of the unaffiliated judges? Are they Democrats in disguise?
Are any of the appointees from out of precinct?
Watch the video, there are SOME out of precenct judges confirmed…of both parties I think.
On the unaffiliated, all you have to do is run their names and see what primary ticket they pick up. NOW this does not mean they are of that party however. So, its a real guess without knowing the person.
The new BC GOP chair is, from all I can tell, MUCH BETTER than that incompetent former chairman who was really a Democrat—Bill Moore.
Mr. Root,
Thank you for your commentary about the Board of Elections. You mentioned that we should let you know if we thought you missed some factual info, so I’m taking this opportunity to address an issue or two raised in your post.
Nobody reads the Legislature’s laws for fun. But that’s part of what I signed up to do, so I read section 163-41, among others. In fact, there are 100 new Board of Elections members across NC, so the NCGOP hosted some reviews and Q&A sessions on these appointments. In the one I attended, we read the whole section, starting with the subsection a that you copied. When we got through that, we got a cup of coffee and some toothpicks to keep our eyes open and went on to subsections b and c. No problem, I signed up for this. There are a couple of run-on sentences and extended modifiers, both of which add distractions, but also add clarity to the bill.
(c)The chairman of each political party in the county where possible shall recommend two registered voters in each precinct who are otherwise qualified, are residents of the precinct, have good moral character, and are able to read and write, for appointment as chief judge in the precinct, and he shall also recommend where possible the same number of similarly qualified voters for appointment as judges of election in that precinct. If such recommendations are received by the county board of elections no later than the fifth day preceding the date on which appointments are to be made, it must make precinct appointments from the names of those recommended. Provided that if only one name is submitted by the fifth day preceding the date on which appointments are to be made, by a party for judge of election by the chairman of one of the two political parties in the county having the greatest numbers of registered voters in the State, the county board of elections must appoint that person.
Note, that if someone reads the whole section, he or she will be left with the idea that the Board must appoint nominees from the Democrats and Republicans, per state law written by the NC State legislature. Miss Melissa did not make up law from whole cloth; she and the Republicans on the Boards across the state read the whole section 163-41. In fact, Miss Melissa should be commended for the amount of work she did compiling the lists from both parties, verifying the registrations of all nominees, and supplying background info from the times that the nominees served as poll workers or officials.
The next paragraph in subsection c talks about residency in the precinct. Again, highlighting for clarity:
If the recommendations of the party chairs for chief judge or judge in a precinct are insufficient, the county board of elections by unanimous vote of all of its members may name to serve as chief judge or judge in that precinct registered voters in that precinct who were not recommended by the party chairs. If, after diligently seeking to fill the positions with registered voters of the precinct, the county board still has an insufficient number of officials for the precinct, the county board by unanimous vote of all of its members may appoint to the positions registered voters in other precincts in the same county who meet the qualifications other than residence to be precinct officials in the precinct, provided that where possible the county board shall seek and adopt the recommendation of the county chairman of the political party affected
On the issue of experience, your observation that the law does not require any experience is correct. But if you’re interested in elections that are run honestly and competently, I think we have to acknowledge that someone who is making decisions in the moment about which process to use, whether an ID is valid, or whether a ballot is properly cast, should know what the processes are and how to remedy situations that arise. The knowledge to do that comes from experience. My commitment is to fair and accurate elections where no candidate is subject to any kind of ballot misuse. My assessment of the staff in Brunswick County is that they do care about honesty and accuracy. So when someone who has never worked the polls but wants to start at the top, making decisions that he or she has never experienced, I’ll go with someone who has been in the trenches.
On the issue of precinct residency, it seems that the State Legislature wants the Boards to choose in-precinct officials. That’s why it was helpful to have Miss Melissa check the registrations of all the nominees.
If Republicans want to be the party of law and order, then it seems to me that we should all read the laws completely and try to abide by the will of the representatives in Raleigh who work on our behalf. We will need experienced, competent, and trusted officials for 2028, who will be appointed in 2027. Can I recommend that you use your pulpit and excellent verbal skills to get Republicans to volunteer for the poll worker positions, and work them diligently to gain competence and the trust of the staff and the Board of Elections? Instead of sitting on the sidelines, Republicans need to get in the game on the field. We could probably get a lot more poll workers from Republicans if they knew that it was important work. It is clear that unaffiliated voters can get jobs in the polls, build trust in their competence, and rise to become officials even though the laws prefer party registration. So, there are a lot of registered voters who can become involved in the process. And, you can use your pulpit to recruit dedicated workers, joining the people in the game who are working hard and following the laws.
Respectfully,
Dave Smudski
Hi David,
you make some great points, but respectfully, being an expert at “something” does not make you qualified at said thing if your expertise is knowing how to cheat. In the medical field, this is why we have the Hippocratic oath, because, the person that knows how to heal also knows how to kill.
Further, the fact is, nothing I wrote was incorrect. We do not have to defer to the person in question. The Board runs things, and they may, by law, appoint someone outside of precinct. Period. End stop.
You comment that you will always go with someone who has experience is interesting. What if the person with “experience” has been (as has been Brunswick county if you know the history and have lived her longer than 25 years) has been Democrat. Your rationale means, Demcorats would always hold the majority even IF Republicans are the majority of the voters. Hard pass. That is a recipe for defeat.
Finally, I spent the second paragraph on the issue of Republicans preparing for what is coming. You should do the same. This board and this staff is a disgrace.