North Carolina county officials drawing up their early voting plans for this fall’s midterm elections are contending with a new power player this year: the state auditor.Limited time: Save 25% on NBC News subscriptionGet exclusive reporting, live Q&As and ad-free reading.In the lame-duck period after the 2024 election, Republican legislators voted to strip incoming Democratic Gov.Josh Stein of his authority over the State Board of Elections and give it to the incoming state auditor, Dave Boliek, who had flipped the office for Republicans that year.Once an under-the-radar statewide position focused on monitoring state finances, the state auditor’s office is now taking an involved role in county-level election planning.
Boliek and his staff are soliciting information and weighing in on counties’ early voting plans for the November general election, offering feedback and suggesting changes.The auditor’s office requests, revealed in public meetings, interviews with county officials and public records requests made by advocacy groups and shared with NBC News, have alarmed voting rights advocates and Democrats, who argue Boliek is going beyond his office’s authorities in ways that could boost the GOP in the battleground state.According to statute, Boliek is allowed to appoint members of the State Board of Elections, oversee its budget and appoint the chairs of county election boards.
The State Board of Elections should otherwise operate independently, the new law says, handling matters such as early voting disputes that cannot be resolved by the counties.Advocates and some State Elections Board members told NBC News they thought the influence from the auditor’s office was unusual, and none recalled statewide elected officials’ shaping early voting plans in the past.“It is totally beyond what was envisioned and what was said on the floor of the Senate and the House when they were passing this law,” said Terence Everitt, the executive director of th...