So it's been a while since I could get you up-to-date on Watauga County political happenings. My bad. But we had a very important (and it-took-all-my-time) election to win first!
My earlier diaries about the intensive voter suppression efforts here in our little world can be read here and here and here and here.
A lot has happened since I last posted. The short and sweet of it goes like this:
1. The State Board of Elections let stand the move of the Appalachian State University polling place to a smelly, poorly lit, and prone to flooding BYOB nightclub at as far a distance from students as they could get it.
2. Three Democratic activists have filed a formal petition with the State Board of Elections to remove the two Republican Tea Party local Board of Elections Board members (be sure to read it--it's a doozy).
3. We are working on a federal lawsuit claiming purposeful discrimination of a targeted demographic's voting rights. Most voting discrimination suits focus on racial bias. We believe we're breaking new ground.
4. We decided it wasn't good enough to squeak through a narrow win in the November 5th elections. We decided we had to clean their clocks.
5. And we did.
First things first. We fought a hard election this go-round. We were up against a well-funded Tea Party intent on taking over our progressive municipal government. The election turned on whether we would protect the environment and neighborhoods in our small mountain town or whether the developers would be allowed to run rampant without regulation.
The Republicans ran a slate of developers who presented themselves as "progressives" who wanted to "balance" development and environmental interests. We played lean and we played mean.
In the end, thanks to a strong local Democratic Party, excellent candidates, a voting population fed up with the efforts by our local Board of Elections to suppress progressive votes, and fueled by the energy and commitment of young activists, we sent the Republicans packing. And we elected a new generation of Democratic candidates.
Now to an update on Watauga County Board of Election matters.
Here in Watauga County we Democrats take on our elections one at a time. But we take on our opponents all at a time.
And a smackdown win against the Tea Party in no way represents the end of our fight against voter suppression and a corrupt county Board of Elections.
When the BOE State Executive Director decided the leaky, dim, where-the-hell-is-it "Legends" nightclub would have to do as a new polling place for our student, faculty and staff polling location, she fell back on state statute, saying, essentially, "yes, the place sucks and is inadequate, but (woe is us) state law just won't let us overturn the local board's decision."
Well, okay then. Wonder what else is in state statute. Oh, look, there's this:
§ 163-22. Powers and duties of State Board of Elections.
(c) The State Board of Elections shall appoint, in the manner provided by law, all members of the county boards of elections and advise them as to the proper methods of conducting primaries and elections.... In performing these duties, the Board shall have the right to hear and act on complaints arising by petition or otherwise, on the failure or neglect of a county board of elections to comply with any part of the election laws imposing duties upon such a board. The State Board of Elections shall have power to remove from office any member of a county board of elections for incompetency, neglect or failure to perform duties, fraud, or for any other satisfactory cause.
Three Democratic activists decided this looked promising for forcing the state's hand.
So then there came this introduction to their 9-page petition and 21 exhibits to the State Board of Elections:
We the undersigned, duly registered and qualified electors of Watauga County, pursuant to NC G.S. 163-22(c), giving SBE full power and authority to remove from office any member of a county board of elections for "incompetency, neglect, failure to perform duties, fraud, or for any other satisfactory cause," and pursuant to North Carolina Administrative Code (NCAC) Title 8, Chapter 3 - Charges Against County Election Officials - Section .0101 - Voter Complaints, petition the SBE to remove from the Watauga County Board of elections (CBE) Luther (Luke) Eggers, Chair od thge Wataua County Board of Elections, and William (Bill) Aceto, Secretary of the Watauga County Board of Elections, for official misconduct, participation in intentional irregularities, unethical actions, and incapacity and incompetency to discharge the duties of their offices.
The petition is impressive. It covers everything from fraud to intentional voter suppression to illegal meetings to a hostile work environment down to the outright theft of official Board of Elections letterhead. It also claims that Republican Board members Aceto and Eggers are puppets for the Watauga County Attorney himself (Four Eggers), who is in actuality running the Board behind closed doors for partisan purposes.
Whoah. Now what? What was the State Board of Elections' response?
Phone calls to SBOE Chairman Josh Howard, a Republican, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
In his 13 years with the State Board of Elections, State Board of Elections Attorney Wright said he has not seen a “complaint being filed under this procedure.”
That's right. The NC State Board of Elections has been reduced to biting their nails to the quick and fantasizing about a day when Watauga County will stop filing petitions, other than one to secede.
The response from the Republican Board members was predictable whining by one, and crickets from the other. So the petitioners decided to take it up a notch in their response to Board member Aceto's weak defense of the complaint against him. This time they asked the State BOE, under authority granted them under North Carolina General Statute of course, to hold a hearing and subpoena witnesses. Oh, and my personal favorite, to refer the matter to North Carolina's Attorney General for appropriate action against Mr. Aceto for perjury.
So now we await our hearing, one we assert the state must grant. We assemble our plaintiffs for our federal lawsuit. We begin local candidate recruitment for 2014. We expand our door-to-door efforts. We raise money to make it all happen. And we never ever give up the flight against our rights and our quality of life. We're on it.