Argument erupts on the NC elections board over the new role handed a former GOP operative

Members of the N.C. State Board of Elections argued Tuesday over state Auditor Dave Boliek’s hiring of a former GOP state director to work with local elections officials.  

Boliek told county board chairs last week that former state GOP executive director Dallas Woodhouse would be his “eyes and ears on the ground,” with duties to include shaping early voting plans, election policy, and election integrity.

Democrats on the state board argued that Boliek is giving Woodhouse responsibilities in the newly-created role that, under law, belong to state Board of Elections Director Sam Hayes. Democrats also questioned Woodhouse’s suitability as a former state GOP spokesman whose job it was to help elect Republicans. 

Boliek’s office did not respond to an email Tuesday evening, and Woodhouse did not return a phone message. 

Board member Siobhan Millen, a Democrat, described Woodhouse as a “highly-partisan figure who resigned his role” with the GOP as a bribery scandal was unfolding. Woodhouse was not implicated in the bribery case. 

Board Chairman Francis De Luca began to shout over Millen as she criticized Woodhouse’s hiring.

Before the meeting, De Luca said Woodhouse was a close friend whom he once hired to work at the conservative Civitas Institute. 

Woodhouse resigned his job as executive director of the state GOP in 2019 after chairman Robin Hayes was indicted in connection with a bribery case. Hayes pleaded guilty to lying to federal prosecutors and was sentenced to probation and ordered to pay a fine. President Donald Trump pardoned him in 2021. 

“It’s difficult to imagine a person who would be less suited to bringing election integrity…,” Millen said of Woodhouse before De Luca cut her off. 

“I don’t think it enhances public confidence,” she added, before De Luca pronounced the discussion a waste of time. 

A new state law gave Boliek the power to appoint the chairs of local boards of elections and members of the State Board of Elections. Until this year, the governor appointed state board members, but the law took that power away from Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, and gave it to Boliek, a Republican. 

The law does not give Boliek the power to run elections or set election policy, and having Woodhouse as a liaison creates confusion over who local boards should turn to for guidance, said board member Jeff Carmon, a Democrat. 

What appears to be a contentious midterm election is coming, Carmon said, and local elections officials need to know where to direct their questions and complaints, and whose policies they should follow.

“If anyone is calling the auditor’s office, it needs to stop,” Carmon said. 

Board member Stacy “Four” Eggers IV, a Republican, said it’s clear that the board retains “legal, technical, and supervisory oversight” over elections, but Woodhouse may be helpful in securing funding from the legislature.

“Our county board members should take direction from this board,” Eggers said.