The North Carolina State Board of Elections has sworn in a new member after Republican Bob Rucho abruptly resigned on Thursday.
Rucho stepped down after serving less than one year on the board. His replacement is Angela Hawkins, the former chair of the Wake County Board of Elections.
WRAL-TV reports his resignation was tied to recent political donations. State law prohibits members of the elections board from making campaign contributions.
Finance records show Rucho donated about $1,300 to Catawba County Sheriff Don Brown and Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell.
In a statement, State Auditor Dave Boliek thanked Rucho for his service to the board, saying he “led on election integrity and helped make it easy to vote and hard to cheat” in North Carolina’s elections.