UPDATE: New Hanover Board of Elections calls re-do to avoid breaking law

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) – The New Hanover County Board of Elections had to call a do-over this afternoon to keep from breaking state law.

After meeting as planned this morning, the board called an emergency meeting this afternoon.

The board this morning denied a pair of protests by John Christian Anderson, who claimed fraud in the results from the Nov. 8 election. Anderson spoke before the Board of Elections and other officials to discuss his protest. He said that people wrongfully entered the New Hanover County Senior Center overnight several times during early voting, and that residents voted without being a resident in the county for over a year.

Elections Director Derek Bowens investigated these claims and found no evidence of voter fraud.

The board ruled his protests frivolous and without proper evidence.

“There is a political strategy behind timing and I’m not going to fault someone for doing that,” New Hanover County Board of Elections Chairman Jonathan Washburn said. “But because it was clearly filing simply to delay the outcome, that made it seem frivolous and that was one of the grounds for denying that protest.”

Once the board voted to deny the protest, they issued certificates finalizing the county’s voting results.

“If we did not certify those results today then we have candidates who won the election and are ready to serve that can now move forward,” Washburn said. “So we issued those certificates.”

When questions came up whether issuing certificates today violated state law, board member Jamie Getty said, “I’d rather ask forgiveness.”

By law the board has to wait five days after dismissed a petition to give the person who filed it time to appeal.

The vote to move forward passed 2-1, but when the State Board of Elections caught wind of this, it advised the county board to rescind the certificates.

The county board reversed course in a 2-1 vote during the emergency meeting this afternoon with Washburn voting no.

“I think it sends a bad message to people that they can stall the entire political process by filing protests that may be not valid or just frivolous,” Washburn said.

Anderson left this morning’s meeting before we could ask if he will appeal.

New Hanover County will have to wait until after an appeal is heard or a statewide recount happens to put county commissioners into office and move forward.