What a difference a year — and a volatile political climate — makes.
At this time last year, the Sampson County Board of Elections was a three-member body, as for years was traditional. In early 2018, it grew to four members, split at two Republicans and two Democrats.
On Thursday, the first five-member Sampson Board of Elections was sworn in, with Democrat newcomer Emily DeVane taking her seat on the board. She joins fellow Democrats Horace Bass and G.H. Wilson, along with Republicans Danny Jackson and Quincy Edgerton.
Bass will serve as chairman, having been appointed by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper to the capacity. Bass is the longest-tenured member of the board, serving since 2011. There will be no vice-chair under the new configuration. Wilson was voted secretary.
“This is a monumental moment for me and others,” Bass said in opening up Thursday’s meeting of the five-member body.
DeVane applied to be on the board and was subsequently selected.
“I just want to make sure things are done fairly for the citizens of Sampson County,” she remarked.
Thursday’s swearing-in marked the first time that the local board has met in 2019, due to the state election board being in flux.
A previous nine-member State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement was dissolved by court order in late December after a panel of state judges ruled lawmakers had overstepped their authority in both that and other changes to the state’s elections administration system in 2016.
Shortly before Cooper took office in 2016, legislative Republicans merged the elections board and the ethics commission and replaced the five-member elections board with an eight-member board. After Cooper sued, the legislature added a ninth, unaffiliated member to the state board.
At the same time they added a fourth member to each of the three-member county election boards, including Sampson. That move split local boards along party lines at two apiece, where for years the majority favored the sitting governor.
In the wake of a voting amendment, Cooper named a new five-member board in late January, consisting of three Democrats and two Republicans. That board then named four people to each local board, with Cooper appointing a fifth member to each to serve as chair.
In Sampson, it is a return to chairman for Bass, who served in the role for several months last year before Jackson took over in July. Bass, Jackson and Edgerton previously made up the three-member board. Wilson was added last year to round out the four-member iteration.
Now, DeVane makes it five. Bass said everyone is learning as they go, a sentiment echoed by Elections director Ashley Tew.
“I’ve been on the board since 2011, and things have changed, and things have changed really quickly,” Bass stated. “I lot of this stuff comes from the state board. It’s exciting in a way, but you’re still held to the responsibility to get it right. That means working together in a bipartisan way.”
Sampson Board of Commissioners chairman Clark Wooten, in attendance with county manager Ed Causey, thanked elections board members for their service, while urging bipartisanship. He said the county sought a “collaborative culture” with everyone, especially the Board of Elections.
“It’s our desire that we work in a collaborative effort,” said Wooten, a Republican.
“Partisan politics is the cornerstone of this Democracy,” he noted, cautioning the board from unbecoming acts and partisan bickering, as is seen elsewhere. “I know that you, along with Ashley, will never see that Sampson County gets to that low point.”
Firmly behind the eight-ball like most other county boards of elections, having not met for months, the Sampson body went to work discussing budget matters following the swearing-in.
They mulled how to best implement new regulations for voters to show photo identification at the polls, starting this fall, considering the county’s resources. A preliminary budget is also due to the county finance director by the end of next week.
