The North Carolina State Board of Elections voted Wednesday to dismiss several complaints against local election officials who were accused of misconduct in the November election.

Board Chair Alan Hirsch, a Democrat, said while he believed all of the accused officials took actions that were “ill-advised,” they did not do so with malicious intent.

“This was not an intentional objection or refusal to abide by a clear mandate,” he said.

Complaints considered on Wednesday accused election officials in Wake and Rowan counties of violating state regulations by counting the votes of people who voted early, but died before Election Day.

In another complaint, an official — a Republican member of the Henderson County Board of Elections — came under fire this summer after advocating for the GOP to win the 2024 elections in a message to state lawmakers.

The state board — which is composed of three Democrats and two Republicans — voted unanimously to dismiss the complaints against the Henderson board member, finding that she had not intended her comments to influence the general public.

The state board voted along party lines to dismiss all of the complaints, with the two Republicans dissenting.

County official warned GOP would ‘lose NC to the Dems’

Linda Rebuck, the Henderson County election official, first drew the state’s attention in August after she sent an email to Republican state lawmakers in which she warned of a “concerted effort to turn Henderson County blue” via improper verification of absentee and new voter applications.

“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,” she wrote. “The responsibility will be yours, one way or the other.”

Karen Brinson Bell, the state board’s executive director, wrote a letter to Rebuck, telling her that the statements sent to a wide audience, were “sensationalistic and inflammatory and will undermine voter confidence with no facts to back them up.”

Brinson Bell also noted that state law prohibits members of election boards from publicly supporting any candidate.

While the state board stopped short of ordering any discipline against Rebuck, her comments led at least four voters to submit complaints asking that she be removed from her position.

“She was clearly using her position as a board member to push false narratives about election integrity,” Alexis Rhodes, one of the complainants, wrote.

At their meeting on Wednesday, members of the state board said that while Rebuck’s comments were “unfortunate,” they likely did not rise to the level of breaking the law.

“The Henderson County complaint does not show that it was intended for dissemination to the public at large and was not supporting or opposing any candidate,” Republican board member Stacy “Four” Eggers said. “Certainly, the language could have been more carefully crafted in that communication to the legislature... but that is not a removable offense under our rules.”

Wake and Rowan counted votes from people who died before Election Day

The state board’s Republican and Democratic members disagreed on how to handle the complaints dealing with deceased voters.

In Wake, a few weeks after the November election, the board voted along party lines to count the votes of three people who died after voting early in the 2024 election.

In Rowan, four members of the board (including one Republican) did not second a motion to remove 13 votes from deceased voters, ultimately allowing them to be counted.

These decisions prompted several complaints from voters, who argued that the board members who allowed the votes to be counted should be removed from their positions.

“North Carolina local board of elections members, who hold a position of public trust, are not free to openly defy North Carolina election law because they disagree with it,” Steve Holland, one of the complainants, wrote. “This board should send a clear message that North Carolina election law must be followed.”

Members of the state board acknowledged on Wednesday that the law is vague on how to handle votes from people who die before Election Day — but the longstanding official guidance from the board has been not to count them.

“It is disturbing when our rules, our memos are not adhered to,” Jeff Carmon, a Democrat on the board, said. “...I find that the lack of clarity from our legislature gives them an out. It is my hope that the legislature will make it crystal clear to give our memos even more weight.”

The board’s Republicans, however, said they believed the issue deserved a full hearing.

“To me, that’s a serious breach of duty on behalf of some of these county board members that cannot follow clearly outlined instructions from the state board,” member Kevin Lewis said.

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