ELIZABETH CITY, N.C.
A Pasquotank County elections official did not act improperly by sharing records related to an election protest with a local Republican leader, according to an investigation by the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
In March, Keith Rivers, Pasquotank County branch president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said in a letter to a state official that Betsy Meads acted outside her duties as secretary of the county Board of Elections and asked that she be removed from the board.
Rivers wrote that Meads obtained utility records in a residency challenge against former Councilman Darryl Stallings and that she called and provided the vice chairwoman of the Pasquotank County Republican Party with the records before the challenge was heard.
Stallings earned enough votes for re-election in October but was disqualified after a resident complained that he didn't live in the ward he served. Stallings didn't challenge the protest before the local or the state board, although he had initially prepared to fight.
Rivers said Meads admitted in writing to "conspiring" with the GOP vice chairwoman to verify and request additional information to be used in the hearing before the local board, on which she serves as secretary.
He called the behavior "unethical" and said it was a breach of her official duties.
However, in a letter dated May 9, Gary Bartlett, executive director of the State Board of Elections, said Meads did not act outside the scope of her duties. He said no further action is warranted by his office.
Rivers currently is working with the state NAACP on a request that the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, investigate the entire county Elections Board for how it handled recent elections.
That request was mailed last week.
Lauren King, (252) 338-2413, lauren.king@pilotonline.com
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
