US EditionThe election director in North Carolina, a key swing state, is ousted after a Republican power play
- On Wednesday, the executive director Karen Brinson Bell was removed by the North Carolina Elections Board, which, now controlled by a Republican majority, appointed Sam Hayes as her successor during a party-line vote.
- Republicans gained control after a law enacted in December stripped the Democratic governor of appointment powers by overriding his veto during their legislative supermajority.
- Brinson Bell held the post nearly six years under Democratic board majorities and received praise for managing elections during the pandemic and last year's presidential race.
- The North Carolina elections board, in a 3-2 party-line vote, chose Sam Hayes—who serves as the chief legal counsel to the Republican leader of the state House—to replace the outgoing executive director, a move critics have denounced as a deeply partisan seizure of power targeting a nationally respected election official.
- The partisan turnover now places the election administration of this crucial swing state under Republican leadership, prompting concerns about the management of elections amid a highly charged political climate.
35 Articles
35 Articles
Colorado Springs Gazette
Washington ExaminerNorth Carolina Republicans oust elections director after taking board majority
The North Carolina State Board of Elections ousted Elections Director Karen Brinson Bell after clinching a GOP majority for the first time in about 10 years. Brinson Bell, who had served in the position since 2019, was replaced by Sam…
NC’s Republican-controlled elections board fired an award-winning, non-partisan director. Read her forceful goodbye.
Republicans fired Karen Brinson Bell then tried to prevent her from thanking elections staff. When she began to speak anyway, Republican members walked out of the room. Here are her full remarks. In February, Karen Brinson Bell, North Carolina’s executive director of the State Board of Elections, was elected by her counterparts across the country to lead the National Association of State Election Directors. This was one of many national awards …
Associated Press News
The election director in North Carolina, a key swing state, is ousted after a Republican power play
The North Carolina elections board ousted its widely respected executive director Wednesday in a partisan move that will put Republicans in control of election operations in the political swing state, which includes the certification of results.
GOP-controlled NC election board chooses new director, chair, secretary
For the first time since the Gov. Pat McCrory administration, the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) officially has a Republican majority, as new and returning members were sworn in Wednesday morning by North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Jeff Carpenter. There is also a new chairman of the board, secretary, and executive director. Francis X. De Luca new chairman of the Board Francis X. De Luca of Wilmington was nominated by curren…
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