Tag Archive for: #vancecountyboardofelections

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Vance Board Of Elections Dismisses Protest Filed By Candidate In Sheriff’s Contest

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The Vance County Board of Elections convened a special meeting on Friday morning to review and respond to a protest filed by Sterlin Walker, Jr., which alleged election violations stemming from Tuesday’s primary.

It took the board less than 15 minutes to vote to dismiss the protest, after finding that the various allegations were outside the board’s jurisdiction.

Four members of the board were present; one member could not attend. The vote was 4-0 in favor of the motion to dismiss.

Incumbent Sheriff Curtis Brame defeated Walker and Sean Alston, Sr. in Tuesday’s primary, receiving 3,305 votes representing just over 70 percent of total votes cast.

Board Of Elections Hand Count, Canvass Part Of Post-Election Process To Verify Primary Results

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The staff at the Vance County Board of Elections has had little time to rest following all the activity surrounding Tuesday’s primary elections – there remains plenty to do after those voting machines have been returned to the office.

For one thing, Tuesday’s results are unofficial until a canvass certifies the ballots. Per state regulations, the canvass will take place 10 days after the election – Friday, Mar. 13, according to Vance County Board of Elections Director Haley Rawles.

The Vance County Board of Elections also announced on Wednesday that it would hold a hand-to-eye count as part of the post-election audit process. This count will take place on Thursday, Mar. 5 at 10 a.m. at the board of elections office in the Henry A. Dennis Building, 300 S. Garnett St., Henderson. The meeting is open to the public.

According to a post on social media, “The hand-to-eye count is conducted to verify the accuracy of election results by manually counting a sample of ballots and comparing those results with the voting system totals.”

According to the N.C. State Board of Elections website, the hand count has been a part of every North Carolina election since 2006 and occurs before the certification canvass.

Information on the NCSBE website explained the process this way: “The sample hand-count audit is a test to ensure that voting equipment reads voters’ choices accurately. Bipartisan teams at every county board of elections conduct this audit after every election. The audit compares election results counted by voting equipment with hand counts of ballots from randomly selected voting sites.”

NC State Board of Elections

The Local Skinny! State Elections Board Vacates Local Decision In Perdue District 4 Residency Appeal

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In a 3-2 vote Wednesday morning, the N.C. State Board of Elections vacated a decision of the Vance County Board of Elections, paving the way for candidate Kelley Wade Perdue to remain a candidate for the District 4 seat on the Vance County Board of Commissioners.

Commissioner Dan Brummitt had challenged Perdue’s residency in District 4, prompting the county board of elections to hold an evidentiary hearing on Jan. 22. The board voted 4-1 that Perdue hadn’t proved her case that she resides or maintains a domicile with District 4, but rather in District 2.

At Wednesday morning’s hearing, the state board of elections heard from Perdue’s attorney, Steven Walker. Perdue was present at the online meeting but did not address the panel.

Walker reviewed evidence that Perdue had provided showing the District 4 address on documents ranging from a driver license and voter registration to property, utility and bank records – all showing the same District 4 address.

Walker stated that she had temporarily moved her residence – and voter registration – because of illness, “but always intended for her domicile to be in District 4.”

Perdue renewed her driver license and voter registration in September 2024. Both reflect the District 4 address.

Looking at the whole record in this case, Walker asserted that the Vance County Board of Elections had come to the “wrong conclusion” and asked the panel to reverse the local board’s decision.

A motion by Stacy “Four” Eggers, IV to uphold the earlier decision failed 3-2 and a subsequent motion by Jeff Carmon to vacate the local board’s decision passed 3-2.

Perdue told WIZS News Wednesday she was grateful that the appeals process worked as it was intended and that her appeal was ultimately upheld.

“This experience reaffirmed an important principle: when citizens believe their rights have been compromised, they deserve a fair, lawful, and transparent process to seek resolution,” Perdue said.

“Throughout this appeal, I stood firm, followed the law, and respectfully pursued every available avenue to protect my rights—not just for myself, but because those same protections must exist for every citizen of Vance County. The rule of law matters most when it is tested, and this process demonstrated why due process and accountability are essential to our local democracy.

“As a candidate for the Vance County Board of Commissioners, District 4, this experience has only strengthened my commitment to stand up for fairness, equal treatment, and the rights of the people I seek to serve. Just as I fought for my own rights through the proper legal channels, I will bring that same determination, integrity, and persistence to advocating for the citizens of Vance County.”

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Perdue Appeals To State Board Of Elections Following Jan. 22 Challenge Hearing On Residency

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Vance County Board of Commissioners candidate Kelly Wade Perdue said she has filed an appeal with the N.C. State Board of Elections following a decision earlier  Thursday about her residency in the district in which she filed. Perdue told WIZS News late Thursday afternoon that she will be notified about a future hearing date after the next board meeting.

District 4 Commissioner Dan Brummitt filed a residency challenge on Jan. 8 during the filing period for the March 3 primary. That assertion was upheld in a 4-1 vote by the panel that heard evidence and statements by both individuals. The Vance County Board of Elections served as the panel hearing the matter; it concluded that Perdue had not proved her case concerning her residency.

Shortly after the hearing ended, Perdue told WIZS News that she had already begun completing the necessary paperwork.

Vance County Board of Elections Director Haley Rawles confirmed that Perdue can appeal the matter to the state board of elections.

The Vance County Board of Elections served as the panel for the challenge hearing, which began at 10 a.m. in the commissioners’ conference room. The vote was 4-1 that Perdue had not presented sufficient evidence to support that her residence is within District 4.

In Brummitt’s closing remarks, he said he had initiated the challenge after hearing from constituents that Perdue lived elsewhere.

Perdue contended that she is in the process of building a new home in the Watkins community, which is in District 4. She maintained that she owns several properties in District 4, one of which is the site of her future home.

The meeting lasted more than 90 minutes, following a formal process of the challenged candidate – Perdue – and the challenger – Brummitt – presenting opening statements, followed by presentation of evidence and cross-examination. After the presentations, the panel deliberated and the meeting concluded with the 4-1 vote in favor of the challenger.

Board Of Elections Sets Jan. 22 As Date To Hear Residency Challenge In District 4 Commissioners’ Contest

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In a meeting Monday afternoon, the Vance County Board of Elections set a hearing date of Jan. 22 at 10 a.m. to consider a challenge lodged by a Vance County commissioner concerning the residency of a candidate who has filed to run for a seat on the board of commissioners.

District 4 Commissioner Dan Brummitt has called into question the residence of Kelley Wade Perdue, who filed to run for the District 4 seat.

“I had some constituents call me with some concerns about where she lived,” Brummitt told WIZS News Monday. Brummitt said after some investigating, “it appears that she does not live at the address that she has listed…there was enough evidence to demonstrate that she doesn’t live in that house. She’s got to provide evidence otherwise,” he added.

Perdue told WIZS that she has been a registered voter in District 4 for years.

“During that time, I voted for Commissioner Dan Brummitt without any questions being raised about my residency. Now that he is being challenged for his seat, my residency has suddenly been questioned. I look forward to working with the Board of Elections. I’m excited to champion a new voice for District 4,” Perdue stated.

Vance County Board of Elections Director Haley Rawles told WIZS that the board of elections will hear from both sides – Brummitt, the “challenger,” and Perdue, the “challenged candidate,” as part of the official proceedings on Jan. 22. The hearing is open to the public and will take place in the commissioners’ meeting room on the second floor of the county office building, 122 Young Ave.

(This information was originally posted January 13th)

NC State Board of Elections

County Boards Of Elections Set To Begin Sending Absentee Ballots Jan. 12

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 – from the N.C. State Board of Elections

On Monday, Jan. 12, North Carolina’s 100 county boards of elections will begin sending absentee-by-mail ballots to registered voters who requested a ballot for the 2026 primary election.

This marks the start of voting for North Carolina’s March 3 primary election. Voters who have already requested absentee-by-mail ballots should receive them in the coming days. In North Carolina, any eligible voter can request, receive, and vote an absentee ballot by mail. Find more information at Vote By Mail.

The absentee ballot request deadline is Tuesday, Feb. 17. Election officials urge voters who wish to vote by mail to request their ballot as early as possible to ensure there is time to receive it and then send it back to their county board of elections so that it is received no later than 7:30 p.m. on Election Day – March 3.

State law previously provided for a grace period if your ballot was postmarked on or before Election Day and received up to three days after the election. That is no longer the case. The ballot must be at the county board office, not in the mail, by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.

In the primary election, voters will select nominees for a political party to move on to the Nov. 3 general election. In primaries, voters affiliated with a political party will be given a ballot of candidates for their party. Unaffiliated voters may choose the ballot of any one party that has a primary (Democratic or Republican) or a nonpartisan ballot, if available in their jurisdiction. The Green Party and Libertarian Party do not have N.C. primaries in 2026.

Find out more at Upcoming Election.

Sample ballots are available for individual voters by locating their voter record in the State Board of Elections’  Voter Search link.

Scroll down to the “Your Sample Ballot” section and click on the link(s).  Note: Unaffiliated voters will have at least two ballot styles listed, and may have three ballot styles if they are eligible to vote in a non-partisan contest, such as a referendum. When requesting an absentee ballot or presenting to vote in person, unaffiliated voters will choose which ballot they wish to vote.

By-mail voters must have two individuals or a notary witness that the voter completed their ballot. The witnesses must sign the ballot return envelope where indicated. By-mail voters also will be asked to place a photocopy of an acceptable photo ID in the sleeve on the back of their ballot envelope. The photocopy does not have to be a color copy, but election officials must be able to read it. Absentee voters who are unable to provide a copy of a photo ID should complete the Photo ID Exception Form that is included with their absentee ballot materials, and place that form in the sleeve indicated for photo ID.

2026 Primary Dates and Deadlines

Here are key dates and deadlines for the 2026 primary election in North Carolina:

  • 12:  County boards of elections begin mailing absentee ballots to eligible voters who have submitted an absentee ballot request
  • 6:  Voter registration deadline (5 p.m.)*
  • 12:  In-person early voting begins; same-day voter registration available
  • 17:  Absentee ballot request deadline (5 p.m.)*
  • 28:  In-person early voting ends (3 p.m.)
  • March 3:  Primary Election Day
  • March 3:  Absentee ballot return deadline (7:30 p.m.)*
  • March 13:  County boards of elections primary canvass meetings (11 a.m.)

The asterisk * indicates that there are different deadlines for military and overseas citizen voters.

Vance County Board Of Elections: March 3 Primary Details; Early Voting Begins Feb. 12

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— From Vance County Board of Elections Chair Susan Floyd

The statewide primary election will be held on Tuesday, March 3, 2026.

Voters will be asked to show photo ID when they vote. All voters will be allowed to vote with or without ID. Voters who lack ID can get one for free from their county board of elections. Find out more at https://www.ncsbe.gov/voting/voter-id.

Polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.

Early voting will be held at the following locations from Thursday, February 12, 2026, through Saturday, February 28, 2026.

Eaton Johnson Middle School Gymnasium: 500 N. Beckford Dr. Henderson, NC 27536

 

Day Date Status / Hours
Thursday February 12, 2026 Open, 8:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Friday February 13, 2026 Open, 8:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday February 14, 2026 Closed
Sunday February 15, 2026 Closed
Monday February 16, 2026 Open, 8:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday February 17, 2026 Open, 8:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday February 18, 2026 Open, 8:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Thursday February 19, 2026 Open, 8:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Friday February 20, 2026 Open, 8:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday February 21, 2026 Closed
Sunday February 22, 2026 Closed
Monday February 23, 2026 Open, 8:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday February 24, 2026 Open, 8:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday February 25, 2026 Open, 8:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Thursday February 26, 2026 Open, 8:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Friday February 27, 2026 Open, 8:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday February 28, 2026 Open, 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Absentee ballots will be mailed to voters who have requested them beginning January 12, 2026. Absentee ballots must be received by the county board of elections no later than 7:30 p.m. on March 3, 2026. A voter can fill out an absentee ballot request at votebymail.ncsbe.gov, or by filling out a request form provided by the county board of elections office. The request must be received through the website or by the Vance County Board of Elections by 5 p.m. February 17, 2026.

In the primary election, voters will select nominees for a political party to move on to the general election on November 3rd. Contests on the ballot include U. S. Senate, U.S. House, N.C. Supreme Court Associate Justice, N.C. Court of Appeals Judge, Superior and District Court Judge, N.C. House and Senate, and county offices. In the primary, voters affiliated with a political party will be given a ballot of candidates for their party, if their party has a primary. Unaffiliated voters may choose to vote in any party’s primary, but they may select only one party’s ballot.

The voter registration deadline for this election is 5 p.m. Friday, February 6, 2026. Eligible individuals who are not registered by that deadline may register and vote at any early voting site during the early voting period. Individuals registering to vote at an early voting site will be required to provide current documentation of their residence (for example, a government ID, other government document, or a paycheck, bank statement, or utility bill). Voters who wish to change party affiliation must do so by the February 6 deadline.

To learn more, call the Vance County Board of Elections Office at 252.492.3730.

Candidate Filings For March 2026 Primary

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Vance County voters will have a ballot full of contested races when they go to the polls for the March 2026 primary elections, which includes a three-way race for Vance County Sheriff. The county commissioners’ seats have multiple filers and three of the four seats on the board of education have at least two candidates.

The filing period ended today – Friday, Dec. 19 – at 12 noon, and Deputy Director of the Vance County Board of Elections Shelly Wood said six individuals came in on the last day to file – four of them for the District 7 seat on the Vance County Board of Education.

Until the final day of the filing period, there were no candidates for the District 7 seat.

Sterlin M. Walker, Jr. added his name to the list of candidates for Sheriff. He joins incumbent Sheriff Curtis Brame and challenger Sean Alston, Sr., who had filed earlier. All three candidates for Sheriff are Democrats.

Ruth M. Hartness filed to retain her District 7 seat on the board of education, along with challengers Blakely Lee Bakes, Angela Cooper Lyons and Hailey Breeze Macklin. Mackin is a Republican; the other three candidates are Democrats.

In other contests that involve Vance County, Henderson Mayor Melissa Elliott added her name to the list Thursday to run for the District 32 seat in the N.C. House of Representatives. Incumbent Bryan Cohn did not seek re-election, but Granville County Democrat Curtis McCrae, Jr. has filed for the seat, according to information from the N.C. State Board of Elections.

Here’s a complete list of filers for contests specific to Vance County:

Vance County Board of Commissioners – District 3 Charisse Fain – Democrat

Vance County Board of Commissioners – District 3 Angie Ryan – Republican

Vance County Board of Commissioners – District 4 June Lewis III – Democrat

Vance County Board of Commissioners – District 4 Kelley Wade Perdue – Republican
Vance County Board of Commissioners – District 4 Dan Brummitt – Republican

Vance County Board of Commissioners-District 7 Joann Evans – Democrat

Vance County Board of Commissioners-District 7 Joseph Falkner – Republican

Vance County Board of Education – District 1 Cassandra Evans – Democrat
Vance County Board of Education – District 1 Gloria White – Democrat

Vance County Board of Education – District 2 Randy Oxendine – Democrat
Vance County Board of Education – District 2 William Earl Purvis – Democrat

Vance County Board of Education – District 6 Omega T. Perry – Democrat

Vance County Clerk of Superior Court Amanda Burnette – Democrat
Vance County Clerk of Superior Court Eric Burwell – Democrat

Vance County Register of Deeds Cassandra D. Neal – Democrat

Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame – Democrat
Vance County Sheriff Sean Alston, Sr – Democrat
Vance County Sheriff Sterlin M. Walker, Jr. – Democrat

********UPDATED Friday, Dec. 19, 2025 at 6:50 p.m.

(Please note — This post has been updated regularly since filing started. All those updates have been deliberately removed and replaced with the final filings written above.)

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Henderson Mayor Melissa Elliott Files For N.C. House District 32 Seat

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Henderson Mayor Melissa Elliott filed Thursday to run for the N.C. State House.

Elliott confirmed with WIZS News that she filed as a Democrat; at present, she is the lone Democrat filer for the District 32 House seat.

“We’ve still got another day,” Elliott said in an interview late Thursday afternoon. “I’ve heard another candidate may be coming out of Oxford.” Individuals have until 12 noon tomorrow – Friday, Dec. 19 – to file for the March 2026 primary.

“I’m excited,” Elliott said, to announce her candidacy. “I’m going to run a clean race, in spite of all the dirty things they’ve said about me. I’m just going to be Melissa Elliott, and I feel like all of this was training for me to have super, super thick skin so no matter what people say, I can still fight for people that don’t necessarily fight for me.”

She described herself as an advocate for people, having worked “tirelessly” for 18 years in the local community. And she’s been thinking about running for a higher office for some time.

“Honestly, I started thinking about it the day I won the mayor’s seat,” Elliott said. “Because I know that at the end of the day, I’m going to have a wider reach. I’m policy driven. I know I don’t have a vote here and may not have a lot of pull once I get there, but I think you work your way up the ladder.”

She credits her resiliency and her love for people and for Vance County as reasons she decided to run.

“I believe I can do a great job on the state level.  I’ve been thinking about it for two years. I got sidetracked or derailed with all of the public scrutiny and then I said to myself, ‘you’ve never let anybody or anything stop you before,’” so she decided to make her move.

“I want to make a difference,” she explained. “If I can’t do it here, then maybe I can do it there. I’m trying. I’m definitely trying.”

So far, two candidates have filed for the Republican primary for the District 32 seat – Frank Sossamon and Pamela Michele Ayscue. The primary election takes place on Mar. 3, 2026.

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No Candidates So Far Filed For District 7 Board Of Education Seat

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UPDATE Dec. 17, 2025 — information courtesy of Vance County Board of Elections Director Haley Rawles

The filing period for the March 2026 primary election wraps up at 12 noon on Friday, Dec. 19, and so far, there are no candidates who have filed for the District 7 seat on the Vance County Board of Education.

“At this time, no candidate has come forward to file for the Vance County Board of Education, District 7. Individuals interested in filing for this seat must do so no later than Friday, December 19, 2025, at 12:00 noon,” according to information from Vance County Board of Elections Director Haley Rawles.

“This Board of Education race is a partisan contest. Should no candidate file during the standard filing period, the remaining option for ballot access for the 2026 General Election would be through an unaffiliated candidate petition,” Rawles said in a statement Wednesday.

The deadline to submit an unaffiliated candidate petition is the day of the primary election, which is Tuesday, Mar. 3, 2026. The petition’s signature sheets must be submitted to the Board of Elections for verification, and petitions must be filed by the stated deadline in accordance with state law.

If no candidate files through the available filing method prior to the General Election, legal counsel will need to be consulted to determine next steps.