Civitas Files Public Records Request With NC Board of Elections on Heels of Republican Members’ Resignations | Eastern NC Now

Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the Civitas Institute. The author of this post is Brooke Medina.

    RALEIGH     Today, Civitas Institute filed public records requests with North Carolina State Board of Elections Executive Director, Karen Brinson Bell, Chairman Damon Circosta, and Attorney General Josh Stein.

    Yesterday evening, the two Republican members of the board appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper resigned. Among the several reasons given for their premature departure, board members David Black and Ken Raymond, cited the misleading information given to them by both Attorney General Josh Stein and elections board staff.

    In his resignation, board member, Ken Raymond, wrote:

    "Regarding the settlement agreement with the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed by the North Carolina Alliance for Retired Americans against the State Board of Elections, attorneys from AG Josh Stein's office did not advise us of the fact that a lot of the concessions made in the settlement have already been denied in a prior case by a federal judge and another case by a state court three-judge panel."

    Elections policy analyst, Andy Jackson, has filed the public records request on behalf of Civitas Institute. His concerns about this apparent attempt to withhold important information to board members raises several questions. He recently wrote:

    "What did SBE and attorney general staff tell the board members before and during that closed meeting? What was in those memos? How did the Attorney General and elections board staff answer questions from board members? How could not one, but two members of the board believe that they were misled?"

    Dr. Jackson concluded, "Given the very public fallout from that closed State Board of Elections meeting, the Attorney General's office and the State Board of Elections cannot justify continuing to hide what happened in that meeting from the public."

    It is because of the many questions these resignations and claims of misinformation prompt, along with the seemingly collusive nature in which Ms. Brinson Bell has conducted her agreement with partisan attorney Marc Elias, that Civitas has filed this public records request.

    You can view each of the requests, in their entirety, below:

    PRR to Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell

    PRR to Chairman Damon Circosta

    PRR to Attorney General Josh Stein

    Founded in 2005, the Civitas Institute is a Raleigh, NC-based, 501(c)(3) nonprofit policy organization that fights to remove barriers to freedom so that all North Carolinians can enjoy a better life.