Wake election officials censured over dead voters’ ballots

Two Wake County Board of Elections members were censured Wednesday after the North Carolina State Board of Elections found they violated their duties by voting to count ballots cast by three voters who died before Election Day in 2024.

The state board voted 3-2 along party lines that Gerry Cohen and Greg Flynn violated their duties. But Chairman Francis De Luca, a Republican, joined the board’s two Democrats in voting against removing them from the Wake board.

Steve Holland of Weaverville filed the complaint, arguing that counting the ballots violated a state board policy. He said Cohen and Flynn, both Democrats, “knowingly departed from state directives.” As a result, he said, ballots from three deceased Wake County voters were counted, while ballots from 42 other deceased voters were not.

Holland appealed after the board, then under Democratic leadership, declined in January 2025 to hold a hearing on his complaint. A judge in the state Office of Administrative Hearings later ruled that the board had to hear the case.

At Wednesday’s hearing, the board considered whether a state memo on ballots cast by voters who later died was guidance or a directive, and whether the North Carolina Constitution required those votes to be counted.

Cohen and Flynn cited a constitutional provision stating, “Every person offering to vote shall be at the time legally registered as a voter,” arguing that ballots should be counted if the voters were properly registered when they voted.

Cohen, a former longtime General Assembly staffer who said he helped draft election laws, said no existing state law requires those ballots to be discarded. He also said a bill filed this year to address the issue showed current law does not.

Flynn said his vote was intended to force attention to an issue the state board or legislature needed to resolve. “I don’t think we should be penalized for exercising our judgement,” he said.

De Luca asked whether the two would vote the same way again, and both said they would not. Cohen said he had been influenced by testimony from relatives of deceased voters and had made a mistake.

Board Secretary Stacy “Four” Eggers IV said state law has required voters to be alive on Election Day for their vote to count for at least 25 years. He and Republican board member Angela Hawkins voted to remove Cohen and Flynn.

North Carolina House Republicans on Wednesday overrode Gov. Josh Stein’s vetoes of three bills requiring more cooperation with federal immigration authorities and ending diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in public schools and universities.

The House voted 71-47, along party lines, to override vetoes of Senate Bill 153, Senate Bill 227, and Senate Bill 558. The Senate had already voted to override the vetoes last summer, so all three measures are now law. They are the 10th, 11th, and 12th vetoes of Stein’s term to be overturned.

The House also voted 71-47 to override Stein’s veto of House Bill 171, which would bar diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in state agencies. That bill still requires a Senate override vote.

Veto overrides require support from three-fifths of members present and voting. With all 120 House members present, that threshold is 72 votes. But Reps. Carla Cunningham, D-Mecklenburg, and Shelly Willingham, D-Edgecombe, were absent, lowering the threshold to 71, the number of seats Republicans hold.

Both lawmakers had attended a House Rules Committee meeting earlier Wednesday. House Democratic Leader Robert Reives said members had not received an explanation.

Republican leaders limited debate under House rules, allowing one speaker from each side for up to three minutes on each override. House Speaker Destin Hall said, “Frankly, there’s nothing in here that we’ve not debated at length already.”

Senate Bill 153 requires additional cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by local law enforcement. It also requires the departments of Health and Human Services and Commerce, the Housing Finance Agency, and local housing agencies to check immigration status before providing certain forms of assistance, including food, rent, housing, medication, and inpatient psychiatric care. The law also removes governmental immunity for local governments with a “sanctuary” policy or that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, and it bars sanctuary policies at state universities.

Senate Bill 227 and Senate Bill 558 end diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in K-12 public schools and public higher education, respectively. House Bill 171 would apply similar restrictions to state agencies.

Senate Bill 50, which would expand who can carry a concealed handgun without a permit, was not taken up Wednesday.

The Jacksonville Area Soccer Association’s Under-19 team won the State Cup and qualified for the national tournament, which is scheduled to begin July 13 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The roster includes 18 local players. The team is raising money to help cover travel costs through fundraisers in the coming days and a GoFundMe campaign.

The North Carolina Senate on Wednesday approved two bills on homelessness and property taxes.

Senators voted 26-16, along party lines, to pass House Bill 437, which would bar local governments from allowing unauthorized homeless encampments in public spaces and would designate homeless shelters as drug-free zones. The bill now returns to the House for a final vote with an amendment from Sen. Brad Overcash, R-Gaston, clarifying which facilities are covered and how residents or business owners can file complaints.

Overcash said the bill responds to a “public safety crisis” tied to a “proliferation of homeless encampments.” He said it would restore “safe parks and public spaces once again” and increase penalties for drug sales in homeless shelters.

Democrats criticized the measure. Sen. Mujtaba A. Mohammed, D-Mecklenburg, said, “The message of this legislation seems to be, if we can move homeless people somewhere else, then the problem is gone.” Sen. Julie Mayfield, D-Buncombe, said the bill lacked funding for housing, mental health, addiction treatment, and other services.

The bill would require municipalities to designate a site on municipal property for homeless camps for less than a year, and only when indoor shelters lack space. Local governments would have to provide restrooms, water, and public safety personnel. The bill does not provide funding for those requirements.

Critics, including the N.C. Coalition to End Homelessness and the N.C. Housing Coalition, said the measure would create legal and financial burdens for local governments and push people out of public spaces. The bill does not make homelessness itself a crime, but it would expose local governments to civil liability if they do not remove camps outside shelters or approved sites.

The Senate also approved Senate Bill 992, known as “Truth in Taxation.” It would require local governments undergoing a property tax revaluation to pass a resolution or ordinance if they want to set a tax rate above the revenue-neutral rate, publish notice, and hold a public hearing.

Sen. Carl Ford, R-Rowan, said the bill is meant to make tax changes clearer to property owners. Local governments that do not comply would have to refund property taxes collected above the revenue-neutral rate. The bill heads to the House.