While a recount of all 66,939 ballots cast countywide was underway in the next room, the New Hanover County Board of Elections dismissed an elections protest outlining concerns about the integrity of results of the New Hanover County Commissioners contest during a Nov. 20 special meeting.
John Christian Anderson described possible improper influence of voters and questionable actions by the chief judge at the Williston Middle School precinct in his protest, filed Nov. 18. He requested a new election be held for the commissioners race, or that all votes from the Williston precinct be disqualified.
Anderson’s concern began on election night, when he observed chief judges from all county precincts delivering ballots through the front door of the elections office — except the chief judge from Williston Middle School, whom he observed delivering ballots through the back door. Anderson later contacted Williston judge Adam Rogers, who told him that blue sample ballots distributed by the New Hanover County Democratic Party were observed in some voting enclosures at Williston on Election Day. Those sample ballots, Anderson alleged, could have inappropriately swayed voters.
The elections board questioned Rogers and Williston chief judge Sornatha Fulford about the sample ballots. Both confirmed they discovered the situation that afternoon, leading Fulford to make an official announcement requesting each voter take all literature or other supplemental materials out of the voting enclosure after voting.
Elections director Marvin McFadyen confirmed that precinct officials are asked to deliver ballots through the front door, but said no policy requires it. He also confirmed that voters are allowed to bring any literature or voting aids into the voting enclosure, and while precinct officials are asked to keep the voting enclosures clean, no official policy dictates how often they should check the enclosures.
Chair John Ferrante and secretary Marlene Mitchell voted to dismiss the protest, while board member Tannis Nelson opposed dismissal of the protest. She said she was concerned about sample ballots left in voting enclosures and wanted to hear more from precinct officials during an official hearing on the protest.
“I recognize and appreciate the good work of precinct officials, and I recognize they can’t keep their eyes on everything throughout the day, but … What concerns me is, no one can assure me that these ballots were never left in the voting enclosure when the voter left that enclosure,” Nelson said.
Ferrante said information provided by Rogers and Fulford put the protest in context, motivating his decision to dismiss the protest. He also questioned Anderson’s motivation to file a protest over events he did not directly witness, in a precinct in which he did not cast a vote.
“I think he inappropriately approached the election judge, and I still haven’t figured that out yet. He didn’t observe anything firsthand. He had no credible observations, just suppositions,” Ferrante said.
Mitchell also voted to dismiss the protest, adding that no voters indicated confusion or asked for assistance from observers or other precinct officials.
Anderson, who angrily left the elections board meeting before the board reached a decision, said he plans to appeal the board’s dismissal. He was not given an opportunity to speak during the board’s consideration of his protest.
He described himself as a friend of Republican candidate for county commission Dr. Derrick Hickey.
Hickey held a slight advantage over commissioner-elect Rob Zapple before the last precinct, Williston, reported around midnight on election night, boosting Zapple into the second open seat on the board with a 204-vote advantage. Canvassed results narrowed the margin between Hickey and Zapple to 186 votes. Hickey requested a recount Nov. 17, which is currently underway in the county elections office.
The Board of Elections plans to reconvene at 5:30 p.m., shortly before the recount is expected to finish.
Anderson also filed an incident report, still under review by the board and county staff, about the presence of absentee ballots and other proprietary information from overseas voters who cast votes electronically on the county’s public email server. Anyone can access the public server from the county government center.
Elections supervisor Derek Bowens said overseas voters who submit ballots electronically are notified that some of their voter confidentiality could be compromised.
The ballots were primarily cast by deployed military members and their families, Anderson said. He discovered the information while searching email correspondence between elections staff and board members about the incidents described in his protest.
Even if his protest did not capture the concern of the elections board, Anderson said he is relieved his efforts removed the voting record and private information of overseas voters from the public server.
“If we had not started this process, if I had not heard what I heard during the elections … those military ballots, with everybody’s complete information and vote, would still be sitting on the server, open for anybody to come in and abuse however they would like. So if I accomplished anything, it was protecting our overseas troops,” Anderson said.
Stay tuned for more information on this developing story.
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