RALEIGH — Complaints against two members of the Bladen County Board of Elections have been dismissed by the state Board of Elections.
The decision was rendered Friday afternoon in a meeting of state board Chairman Damon Circosta, Dr. Stella Anderson, Ken Raymond, Jeff Carmon III and David C. Black. Louella Thompson, chairman of the Bladen County board, and member Patsy Sheppard will not face an evidentiary hearing.
Each vote was 3-2, with Democrats Circosta, Anderson and Carmon finding that the complaints by Bladen County Republican Party Chairman Wayne Schaeffer didn’t meet the “four corners of the statutes.” Republicans Raymond and Black were in favor of moving on to a November fact-finding hearing.
Sheppard was represented by embattled former UNC Pembroke counsel Joshua Malcolm on the conference call; Thompson was not on the call or represented by anyone. Schaeffer was also not on the call.
“While I am disappointed, it was not unexpected,” Schaeffer said. “There will be a follow up, and I can promise that. We will pursue this matter further.”
Interestingly, Sheppard was surprised.
“I’m pleased with it,” the veteran political observer said. “I was not prepared. Their standard procedure is to always have a hearing. I’m surprised.”
Thompson, reached while traveling, said, “I am pleased with the outcome” and said she wanted to leave it at that.
Schaeffer, a resident of White Lake, says Thompson has violated online social media rules since June. His complaint said Thompson has made “several” Facebook posts “clearly meant to disparage the sitting President of the United States” and provided screenshot copies of two. He contended the state statute allows for individual expression of opinion, but not for intentional public distribution.
In the complaint against Sheppard, Schaeffer said since April she has been active in digital online news media forums and group emails. Schaeffer’s complaint said Sheppard has “on innumerable occasions” made clear “she is incapable of functioning as a non-partisan, unbiased board member.” He cites samples of her comments to online news media forums, emails to fellow board members, county party chairmen and the “acting attorney” for Bladen County’s Board of Elections.
The county board doesn’t have an acting attorney; Johnson Law Firm has represented Bladen County for decades. Allen Johnson, a regular for county commissioners meeting, has been providing service at most but not all election board meetings.
Along with the decision to dismiss the complaints, state board members were adamant that county board members need to be mindful of their duty to remain impartial. They referenced social media in particular.
The hearing Friday was not for fact-finding; rather, it was to determine if there was evidence to proceed to a hearing.
Malcolm, the former chairman of the state Board of Elections, said Schaeffer brought a number of assertions but no specific citations, as required by the law.
Before voting in favor of moving to a hearing in November, Raymond expressed displeasure that neither Schaeffer or Michael Aycock, whose name is also on the complaint, were not present on the call.
“If you feel strongly about the complaint, you should be here,” he said.
When asked about his absence, Schaeffer said he didn’t recieve the PIN number to be used when dialing in. According to others on the call, this information was sent in an email.
Schaeffer said he was surprised Sheppard had legal representation and felt that spoke to the legitimacy of the complaints.
“I find it almost laughable that they felt they needed to enlist the services of an attorney over a matter that is nothing more than an ethics issue,” he said. “They stacked the deck in their favor.
“These complaints still have standing. Legal counsel not withstanding, the issues are still relevant and need to be revisted.”
Carmon, in voting no on the matter of Thompson, added, “I want someone to note that the members of the board, that this type of behavior brings so much unwanted scrutiny. We live in a day where social media rules.”
Sheppard was asked if she was going to change anything in light of the proceedings.
“It won’t,” she said. “Since I’ve been on the board, I’ve done my best to put my personal feelings aside, and do the right thing and follow the law. I treat the other members like I would want to be treated.”
Pressed further about online commenting, she said, “I’ve learned my lesson.”
And she vowed to press the issue which led her to accept the appointment to the board.
“The biggest disappoint I’ve had since being on the Board of Elections is that I thought everybody was going to agree that election fraud was wrong and we’re going to do all we can to stop it,” Sheppard said. “And that’s not the case. There are people who have benefitted from it and want it to continue.”