Republicans on local elections board petition NC to fire county director
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Three Republican county board members petitioned Sam Hayes to remove Angie Amaro.
- Democratic members said they were unaware of the petition until it had been signed.
- State law gives Amaro 15 days to respond and Hayes 20 days to decide on her employment.
The three Republican members of the Cumberland County Board of Elections have petitioned the state to terminate the county’s elections director.
The three members formally petitioned Sam Hayes, the director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections. Hayes notified the county board’s director, Angie Amaro, in a letter sent this month and reviewed by The News & Observer.
Republicans Linda Devore, the chair of the Cumberland County Board of Elections, Brenda “Bree” Eldridge, who serves as secretary, and Ryan Johnson recommended that Amaro be terminated.
The two Democratic members of the Cumberland County Board of Elections — Irene Grimes and Derek Edmonds — told The News & Observer on Monday that they were unaware of the petition until after it had been filed.
Board members said they couldn’t publicly discuss the reasons behind the petition.
Democrats had controlled all 100 county elections boards and the state board until last year. That’s when a new law passed by the Republican-controlled legislature took effect, shifting appointment power from the Democratic governor to the GOP state auditor. The revamped state board dismissed the previous state director and appointed Hayes.
Amaro has 15 days to respond to the petition, according to state law. Hayes then has 20 days afterward to make a decision on Amaro’s employment.
The State Board of Elections can also defer Hayes’ decision, give Amaro a hearing and then make a decision.
Republican board members acted on their own
Grimes said the Cumberland board met in closed session twice recently: March 13 and April 1. She said the petition was signed by the three Republican members on April 2.
Devore declined to comment on the petition because personnel matters are confidential under North Carolina law, she said. Edmonds said he couldn’t discuss what was said about Amaro during the closed session. He said the board did not vote in open or closed session on the petition. Amaro, for her part, declined to comment on the petition.
State law requires that a majority of board members sign the petition.
Grimes said the members signing the petition without her or Edmonds’ awareness of it was “underhanded, and it is dirty.”
“You don’t do business like that,” she said.
Amaro was appointed as elections director in 2022. Grimes said Amaro has served Cumberland County for 25 years and “worked herself up” from the lowest position on the elections board. She said it wasn’t easy for Amaro to become director, and that applicants were put “through the ringer.”
“She’s doing an excellent job, and after 25 years, five years away from retirement, she doesn’t deserve what she’s getting,” Grimes said.
Edmonds added that Amaro is “completely undeserving” of termination.
Anson County’s elections board has petitioned to remove its own elections director and dismissed a deputy director, WSOC and the Carolina Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. The New Hanover County elections board placed its director on administrative suspension with pay, WECT reported.
Campaign money complaints
A complaint filed to the state Board of Elections accuses Eldridge, the board secretary, of using money from anonymous donors to make a $25,000 contribution to the county party to pay a speaking fee at a local meeting in 2022, a move that the complaint alleges is a straw donor scheme.
The contribution covered the speaking fee for Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a former national security adviser to President Donald Trump who pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI and was pardoned by Trump in 2020.
The state elections board is investigating the complaint against Eldridge.
A second complaint accused Devore, the board chair, of failing to report the potential campaign finance violation. The complaint also alleged that Devore had an authoritarian leadership style and abused her power.
The State Board of Elections last week voted to dismiss the complaint against Devore.
