[State Board of Elections] State Board Removes 2 Surry County Board of Elections Members | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    DOBSON, N.C.     The State Board of Elections on Tuesday voted unanimously to remove Jerry Forestieri and Timothy DeHaan from the Surry County Board of Elections. These county board members recently refused to certify their local elections. The removals are effective immediately.

    The decision came during a State Board hearing at the Surry County Courthouse in Dobson. The Board found that the actions of the two county board members not to certify recent elections and statements made by them violated their duties as county board members to comply with laws as they exist.

    A full video of the hearing will be posted as soon as possible Tuesday afternoon to the meeting website.

    The Board, in its motion to remove the members, found there were no irregularities in the 2022 general election or the March 7, 2023, special election in Surry County that would have affected any outcomes in those elections. The county board members based their refusal to certify their elections on court and State Board decisions that they disagreed with. The State Board found that their actions constituted "impermissible collateral attacks" on court decisions and directives from the State Board.

    "Those who administer elections must follow the law as it is written, not how they want it to be," said State Board Chairman Damon Circosta.

    On November 28, 2022, Orange County resident Bob Hall filed complaints with the State Board seeking the removal of DeHaan and Forestieri. The two board members, in a written statement after the 2022 general election, criticized a federal judge's order pertaining to certain types of voter challenges. Election administrators do not have the authority to decline to implement court orders or State Board directives issues to implement court orders.

    Under state law, the State Board may remove any county board of elections member "for incompetency, neglect or failure to perform duties, fraud, or for any other satisfactory cause." [N.C.G.S. § 163-22(c)].

    The hearing originally was scheduled for February 14 in Raleigh. That day, the State Board agreed to hold the Surry County after the Surry Board members raised an objection to holding the hearing outside of Surry County.


  • Anita Bullock Branch
  • Deputy Director
  • Beaufort County Board of Elections
  • 1308 Highland Drive, Suite 104 / PO Box 1016
  • Washington, NC 27889
  • Ph: 252.946.2321
  • Fax: 252.974.2962

Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




New North Carolina School Behavioral Health Action Plan Aims to Address Youth Health Crisis Government, State and Federal Washington-Warren Airport Celebrates Groundbreaking on Infrastructure Projects


HbAD0

Latest State and Federal

“The world needs more fossil fuels,” according to Alex Epstein, founder of the Center for Industrial Progress. Epstein argues that the benefits of energy sources such as oil, coal, and natural gas far outweigh the costs.
Two recent news stories about educational institutions in our state illustrate the truth of that statement.
As lawmakers in the General Assembly are poised to consider a bill that would streamline the process of approving new charter schools, a statewide charter advocacy organization reports that more than 77,000 students remain on waitlists to join charter schools.
Even a supposed federal government watchdog has gone radically woke, prompting harsh criticism from conservatives.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Tuesday that he is sending more than 1,100 assets to Texas to assist Governor Greg Abbott in combatting the illegal immigration crisis that President Joe Biden caused on the southern border with his policies.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador accused the Pentagon of spying on Mexico’s government, vowing to safeguard classified military information to protect its national security after a spate of documents leaked in U.S. media.
America is in freefall. Cities are crumbling, with open drug abuse and homeless everywhere, overdose deaths are soaring, there’s a mental health epidemic, and then there are the crises, oh the crises: the border, the federal debt, lack of affordable housing, flat-out unaffordable health care.
On Tuesday, the House Health Committee will consider several bills that critics say are likely to raise insurance costs for consumers.
Refusing to look inward, opponents of school choice insist the only thing needed to improve public schools is more money

HbAD1

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will host a live Cafecito and Spanish-language tele-town hall on Wednesday, April 26, from 6 to 7 p.m.
Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr said during an interview this week that special counsel John Durham’s report on the origins of the FBI’s investigation into former President Donald Trump “vindicated” the former president and that Trump was right from the beginning
A woman arrested during an April 2020 ReOpenNC COVID shutdown protest is suing the governor, the city of Raleigh, and state and local law enforcement officials. She argues that defendants violated her constitutional rights.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis hit back at Donald Trump on Tuesday over a criticism the former president leveled at DeSantis’ decision to sign a six-week abortion ban into law.
A barrage of Russian missiles damaged a U.S.-made Patriot air defense system near Kyiv early Tuesday morning, weeks after the $1 billion system shot a Russian hypersonic missile out of the sky.
Daily Wire editor emeritus Ben Shapiro on Tuesday said that the Durham report released the day prior detailed “one of the most shocking scandals in the history of American law enforcement.”
In a much-anticipated rally at Ace Speedway in Elon, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson declared his candidacy for governor of N.C., joining N.C. State Treasurer Dale Folwell in the Republican primary field.
The monthly local jobs report reveals unemployment rates and related economic indicators at the county level.

HbAD2

 
Back to Top