The state elections board on Thursday dismissed a complaint against Columbus County Board of Elections Chair Jillian McPherson-Edge.
The complaint accused the local board of failing to provide adequate livestream access to its June 8 meeting, when members discussed the possibility of eliminating early-voting sites in Riegelwood and Fair Bluff.
Hannah Preston, who leads the nonpartisan voting advocacy organization Influence NC, filed the complaint with the North Carolina State Board of Elections. She said that although the local meeting began at 5 p.m. on June 8, she and other hopeful participants were in a virtual waiting room until shortly after 6 p.m. when they were finally granted entry.
“Nearly one hour into the meeting there had been no public communication regarding the status of the livestream, any technical difficulties affecting access, whether the meeting had been delayed, or whether an alternative method of public access was available,” Preston wrote in the complaint.
Preston also said the failure to allow a virtual audience into the meeting undermined transparency and public confidence.
But state board members voted 4-1 to dismiss the complaint. Republican Chairman Francis X. De Luca said livestream options are a courtesy but not required by law.
State elections board member Siobhan O’Duffy Millen, a Democrat, said the meeting was “glitchy” and encouraged the local board to avoid similar issues moving forward.
Jeff Carmon, a Democrat, said he was taken aback by the complaint, citing McPherson-Edge’s pledge to be transparent. “I’m really surprised to see this name because of how deeply she has advocated for an open and fair election process,” he said.
McPherson-Edge, a Republican, said in a statement to the Border Belt Independent that the technology issues were beyond the local board’s control. The scheduled Zoom meeting failed to launch and record due to “severe weather” that severed internet access, she said.
“This was a technical issue caused by the storm, not by any intentional action or neglect on my part,” she said. “Once the issue was identified, it was addressed appropriately.”
The June 8 meeting, which was livestreamed on the board’s Facebook page, drew a large in-person crowd. Several groups pushed back against plans to eliminate the early-voting sites, including the Columbus County Democratic Party, the North Carolina NAACP, and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. Representatives argued that closing the sites would hurt some of the county’s poorest voters.
McPherson-Edge said in May that she wanted Columbus County to have a single early-voting site in Whiteville ahead of the November election. Later, she supported a plan that would open sites in Whiteville, Chadbourn, and Tabor City but eliminate sites in Riegelwood and Fair Bluff.
The local board did not reach a unanimous decision on early-voting sites at its June 29 meeting. Under state law, the state elections board sets the early-voting plan when county boards can’t agree.
The state will likely make a decision in August.