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State elections officials said they’re taking another look at allegations that a campaign worker in Anson County broke the rules of voter assistance and walked into the polling site at the elections office, assisting some voters with their ballots.
Patrick Gannon, a spokesperson for the NC State Board of Elections, said the case is in the hands of the Investigations Division.
“We recently received additional evidence and the Investigations Division is reviewing it,” Gannon said.
Gannon did not give any details about the “additional evidence.”
In a story last Friday, WBTV showed a video from inside Anson County’s early voting site. That video shows a man accompanying voters inside and appearing to help them vote. The story identified that man as John Montgomery. Montgomery is the subject of several citizen complaints alleging illegal voter assistance.
The state’s website says “a voter who needs assistance must request it from the chief judge upon entering the voting place and identify the person the voter desires to provide such assistance.”
It’s unclear if the voters who allegedly received assistance from Montgomery spoke with the chief judge.
Montgomery is married to Dannie Montgomery, the Democratic candidate for Anson County Register of Deeds. Her opponent is the incumbent, Greg Eudy. He’s a Democrat but skipped his party’s primary to run as an unaffiliated candidate.
Eudy said he saw John Montgomery go inside the polling place with voters so he filed a complaint with the Anson County Board of Elections. The board received nearly 30 complaints alleging voter interference. Most of them are against Montgomery, of Lilesville.
Montgomery declined to comment on Oct. 30, other than to say he’s “not guilty of anything.”
That was a day after 9th District Rep. Dan Bishop, a Republican, posted on his Facebook page that “Anson County early voting is being run by gangsters.” He also posted a videothat shows a man walking a presumed voter inside the building.
When the complaints were filed in October, Gannon said in addition to sending an investigator, the State Board of Elections “sent out a news release to remind the public about laws and rules pertaining to assistance to voters.”
Gannon says now that the matter is once again under investigation, the state board won’t publicly discuss the matter.
“Because these events could come before the State Board, we are declining further comment at this time,” he said.
WFAE contacted Eudy about the new video. Eudy said he would call back but didn’t.
