Accused of drugging ice cream, a Republican NC elections official resigns
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- James Yokeley Jr., Surry County election chair, was Dave Boliek’s GOP appointee
- State Auditor Boliek urged Yokeley to resign after felony drug charges emerged
- State Board of Elections scheduled emergency meeting to consider Yokeley’s removal
The Republican chair of a North Carolina county election board resigned Thursday after facing criminal charges for allegedly putting drugs into his granddaughters’ ice cream.
State Auditor Dave Boliek, who appointed the man in May, had called for his resignation Thursday morning.
“He needs to resign,” Boliek told The News & Observer in an interview. “... If I don’t get that resignation, my intent is today to ask the State Board of Elections to remove him.”
The man, 66-year-old James Yokeley Jr., served as the Republican chair of the Surry County Board of Elections. Boliek, a Republican, appointed him to the position after gaining control of appointments to election boards due to a new law stripping that power from the governor.
In his resignation letter, Yokeley said he was “falsely accused” and remained “prayerfully confident that I will be exonerated of all accusations levied against me.”
In a statement, Boliek said that Yokeley’s resignation will now allow the board to “move forward with the process of appointing a replacement.”
The State Board of Elections had scheduled an emergency meeting for 1 p.m. Thursday to address the issue, but then cancelled it following Yokeley’s resignation.
Boliek told The N&O he selected Yokeley to serve as chair of the board in part because he already had experience as a member of the board.
“We also did due diligence here in running background checks and we found nothing in his background that would suggest this at all,” he said.
Yokeley himself reported finding the pills on Aug. 8, according to the Wilmington Police Department. An investigation into the incident revealed video footage showing Yokeley had “placed the two pills into both victims’ ice cream,” officials said.
The children did not ingest the drugs, which were identified as illegal narcotics, police said. WRAL reported that police accused Yokeley of slipping cocaine and MDMA into the treats.
Yokeley was arrested and charged with “contaminating food or drink with a controlled substance and felony child abuse,” officials said. Bond was set at $100,000.
Mark Price contributed to this report.
This story was originally published August 28, 2025 at 11:57 AM.
