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The State Board of Elections ruled Thursday that there’s enough evidence to move forward on a complaint against the chairman of the Cabarrus County Board of Elections.
The Cabarrus complaint alleged that Chairman Martin Ericson hosted a virtual Q&A about voting during the pandemic alongside Gail Young, a Democratic candidate for North Carolina House. Like the candidate, Ericson is a registered Democrat.
The person who filed the complaint said Ericson violated a statute limiting political activity. State law says elections board members are not allowed to make written or verbal statements of support for particular candidates.
The state board also approved a full hearing for the complaint against a board member in Camden County in eastern North Carolina. A Republican member of the Camden board accused a Democratic member of being rude during a meeting. She also said that Democratic member posted a number of pro-Biden memes and messages on Facebook.
The board did not move forward on another complaint out of Bladen County. A resident there alleged the county elections chair harassed her for displaying pro-Trump flags and signs in her yard. State board members said they didn’t approve of the behavior, but that it didn’t break rules for political activity.
The meeting was the state board’s first with two new Republican members. Stacy Eggers and Tommy Tucker joined the board after the previous two Republicans resigned in late September over disagreements about updated procedures for processing mailed absentee ballots.
