NC Gov. Cooper appoints two Republicans to replace elections board members who quit
Gov. Roy Cooper appointed two new members to the State Board of Elections on Tuesday, replacing two Republicans who suddenly resigned two weeks ago.
Cooper chose James “Carr” McLamb Jr. of Wake County and Wyatt “Tommy” Tucker Sr. of Union County. They were among the people nominated for the openings by the N.C. Republican Party.
Tucker served as a state senator for eight years until 2019 and before that was a Union County commissioner and a member of the Weddington City Council. McLamb is chief operating officer and general counsel for Envirolink, a utility management company, and worked previously for the state departments of Environmental Quality and Transportation.
McLamb and Tucker replace David Black and Ken Raymond, who resigned simultaneously on Sept. 23 after the board agreed to changes in handling of absentee ballots to settle a lawsuit. All five members of the board, including Black and Raymond, had agreed to the proposed settlement, but after the state’s top Republican lawmakers criticized the agreement, Black and Raymond announced their immediate departures.
The five members on the elections board are split 3-2 in favor of the political party that controls the governor’s office — currently the Democrats. The governor appoints all five members to the board, but at least two of them must be from the opposing party.
Filling two vacancies so close to a general election is unusual.
“Elections are a sacred trust in our democracy,” Cooper said in a written statement. “Our state will hold free, fair elections and follow the law to ensure every North Carolinian who registers can cast their ballot safely and securely. I appreciate that Mr. Tucker and Mr. McLamb are willing to serve on the board.”
Meanwhile, the settlement that led Black and Raymond to resign has been put on hold by a federal judge.
The agreement would have extended the number of days the Board of Elections would accept mailed-in ballots by six days, until Nov. 12, as long as the ballot was postmarked by Nov. 3, which is Election Day.
It also allowed an absentee voter who submitted a ballot without a witness signature to sign an affidavit to fix the ballot rather than fill out a new one.
Finally, it allowed elections boards to count votes from ballots left in outdoor drop boxes that are meant for registration forms and other documents.
Republicans objected to the changes so close to the election and sought to block them in both state and federal courts. U.S. District Court Judge James Dever obliged on Saturday after a hearing late Friday, the same day a Wake County judge affirmed the settlement.
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 3:50 PM with the headline "NC Gov. Cooper appoints two Republicans to replace elections board members who quit."
