The N.C. State Board of Elections denied a protest appeal from a Red Springs mayoral candidate who claimed that employees of an assisted living facility improperly helped residents vote.
Duron Burney, who has served on the town’s Board of Commissioners since 2011, lost the November election by two points. He earned 358 votes, while Mayor Pro Tem Caroline Sumpter won 360.
The Robeson County Board of Elections dismissed an election protest from Burney last month. Burney then appealed to the state board, arguing that the county board did not adequately investigate the absentee ballots he challenged. Burney argued that employees of Red Springs Assisted Living swayed 18 residents on how to vote and did not properly fill out a section of the absentee ballots.
But the state board sided with the county and voted 4-1 on Wednesday to deny his request for a new protest hearing with the Robeson County Board of Elections.
“I do believe that there are times when there is undue pressure on people to vote certain ways within [group] homes,” said Francis X. De Luca, chair of the state board. “I wish there was a magic wand we could wave to stop that, that we could fix it. But the problem in each situation is different, so we just have to deal with them one by one.”
In a statement shared by his attorney, Burney said he was “disappointed in the results but is glad he could bring to light problematic issues related to absentee ballots and how they are cast.”
Burney can appeal to the Superior Court of Wake County within 10 days. His attorney, Hart Miles, said Burney is “considering his options.”
Unless he appeals and the court issues a stay on the election, Sumpter will become Red Springs’ mayor-elect. Until then, Mayor Edward Henderson, who didn’t run for reelection, will continue in the role.
“We’re one step closer,” Sumpter told the Border Belt Independent after the hearing. “We will allow due process to take place.”
Voters’ Rights
The case drew the attention of Disability Rights North Carolina, which investigated Burney’s claims and said it found no wrongdoing.
The Robeson County Department of Social Services also investigated and said the claims were unsubstantiated, according to a complaint investigation summary filed as evidence in Burney’s protest.
“Every step has frankly been an insult to the rights of voters with disabilities,” Corye Dunn, director of public policy for the organization, told the Border Belt Independent. “Each time it has been decided against Mr. Burney, he has pivoted his argument and continued to push for disenfranchisement.”
Burney’s original protest, which the Robeson County Board of Elections heard shortly after the election in November, argued that a person deemed incompetent cannot vote. But under state law, mental capacity doesn’t limit a person’s right to vote.
He also argued that only a person’s relative or guardian can assist in voting.
But a federal court ruling in 2022 said otherwise. In that case, Disability Rights North Carolina sued the state Board of Elections in U.S. District Court in Eastern North Carolina, saying the law restricted the right to vote for people with disabilities. The court ruled that under the federal Voting Rights Act, only a voter’s employer or union representative is banned from assisting them.
Unclear about the law, the county board sent Burney’s protest to the state board for guidance. The state board told the county to follow the federal court’s ruling and to focus on “whether the voters in question requested any assistance and, if so, the nature of the assistance provided; and, whether there was any undue influence on the voters.”
At the second county board hearing in January, Miles said he found “irregularities” in the ballots.
“This was an election that was decided by two votes, and if there were ballots that weren’t cast in the correct way and should be invalidated, that would change the outcome of the election,” he said.
Robert Rucho was the only state Board of Elections member who voted to accept Burney’s appeal. He said it was necessary to subpoena the people whose votes Burney was challenging to hear their testimony.
‘Chilling Effect’
Disability Rights North Carolina has expressed concern about the impact Burney’s protest could have on voters with disabilities. Lisa Grafstein, litigation counsel for the organization, told the state board that voters named in Burney’s complaint are hesitant to vote after being questioned by investigators.
Grafstein’s statement echoes testimony by Red Springs Assisted Living employees to the county board in January. They said they would no longer help residents vote in elections.
Grafstein and Dunn said they worried the case could serve as a playbook for other political candidates who challenge election results.
“This kind of case has a chilling effect,” Dunn said. “I hope Mr. Burney considers the long-term implications for voters with disabilities all over North Carolina before he decides to drag this issue into the courts.”
State board members emphasized that the situation could have been avoided if Red Springs Assisted Living had used a multipartisan assistance team (MAT). The teams, provided by local election boards, help voters in hospitals, clinics, and assisted-living facilities register to vote and cast ballots.
“That’s a process that prevents us from being in this situation and helps limit allegations of undue influence,” said Stacy “Four” Eggers IV, secretary of the state elections board. “Those are, I think, wonderful resources, and I would encourage all the counties, including Robeson County, to make that a priority, so that we’re all not sitting here reconsidering these items.”
Red Springs Assisted Living had requested help. However, the county board was too short-staffed to send a team, Jessica Davis, director of the Robeson County Board of Elections, told the county board in January.
Dunn said many counties don’t have enough staff or volunteers to provide an adequate number of teams.
“MAT teams are great,” Dunn said, “but people with disabilities shouldn’t have to get a MAT team to be able to cast their vote.”