PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
April 10, 2023
Brunswick Democrats Urge the Board of Elections
To Reject the County Commission’s Bad Advice
During a meeting in March, the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners approved an unusual recommendation, advising the county’s Board of Elections (BOE) to “terminate its membership” with the non-partisan U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence. Acting on the Commission’s advice, a Republican member of the BOE has offered a proposal to end its association with the Alliance. The five-person bi-partisan board will vote on the measure at its April 18 BOE meeting.
The Brunswick County Democratic Party (BCDP) opposes the BOE resolution and is urging its defeat. It said the Commission’s findings and the GOP resolution are “based upon unproven and false premises — a political trope.”
Republican Commissioners who support the proposal argue, without evidence, association with the privately funded Alliance opens the door to corruption and election fraud. But, as the Democratic Party noted, “The Alliance is a non-partisan collaborative designed by and for local election departments to share best practices and resources that help them run fair, voter-centric elections.”
The BCDP disputes baseless allegations the Alliance distributes money from rich liberal contributors to help elect Democrats. Such allegations have been debunked by the Federal Election Commission. The Port City Daily refuted the allegations as well, stating,“The resolution falsely claims the Center for Tech and Civic Life is funded by Mark Zuckerberg and other tech billionaires.”
Politifact also said such allegations are false, pointing out that“if meddling to benefit Democrats was the goal, then it was a strange strategy to provide the money to every single jurisdiction that applied.”
Eric Terashima, chair of the Brunswick County Democratic Party, said criticizing the Alliance has a darker motive. “Never mind there’s no proof of corruption or fraud in our elections,” he said. “This non-partisan organization is a valuable national resource. To suggest otherwise is yet another attempt by Republicans to vilify election workers and to limit fair and open access to the ballot box.”
The BCDP said county elections are — thanks to the BOE’s diligence and hard work — “efficient, safe from manipulation, and fair, favoring no party or candidate. The BOE’s operations are among the best, not just in our state, but in the nation, as demonstrated by the BOE’S selection last year as one of the country’s 10 ‘Centers for Election Excellence.’”
Furthermore, Sara LaVere, Brunswick County’s director of elections, was just honored by her peers, who chose her to be president of the North Carolina Association of Directors of Elections.
“One would think this would be cause for celebration and pride, especially by those who run the county,” the Democrats said. “But the County Commission suggests otherwise. It sends a loud and clear message: ‘We don’t trust our elections staff to make professionally sound decisions, and we will substitute our judgment for theirs.’”
“We don’t want our county’s election staff diminished because of baseless, partisan conspiracy theories advanced by the County Commission,” the Democrats said. “The BOE’s operation exemplifies excellence. It need not take advice from those who undermine trust in elections and damage the organization they are claiming to protect.”
BCDP thanked the BOE director and her staff for their “excellent work and for making Brunswick County’s elections worthy of praise and emulation across the nation. Let’s keep them that way.”
Terashima called on citizens who oppose the GOP measure to be present at the BOE’s April 18 meeting, when the proposal will be considered. “We hope Brunswick County residents will join us at this important meeting to show their support for the BOE staff and let their opposition to measures like this be known,” he said.
The BOE meeting will begin at 2 p.m. in the Commissioners’ Chambers in the David Sandifer Administration Building, 30 Government Center Drive NE, Bolivia. Citizens who can’t attend or who do not want to speak at the hearing can still make their views known by using the Board’s public comment portal, by calling the BOE at (910)253-2620, or by sending an email to BOEchair@brunswickcountync.gov.
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