She distributed news about Duane Hall to voters. Then he confronted her.

A Cary woman says state House member Duane Hall and one of his supporters "ganged up" on her at a Cary polling site and told her she was breaking the law by passing out a news article about sexual misconduct allegations against him.

Hall's supporter went on to file a complaint with the state about the woman, Kaki McKinney.

Gov. Roy Cooper and the North Carolina Democratic Party in February called on Hall to resign after he was accused of sexual harassment. McKinney said she was passing out copies of a News & Observer story about Hall at the Herbert C. Young Community Center early voting site on April 27 when Hall and a woman approached her and told her she was violating campaign rules.

McKinney said they asked her whom she was working for and told her that flyers handed out at the polls are supposed to disclose who paid for them.

"It felt like they were ganging up on me," McKinney said.

"They said, 'What you're doing is illegal.'"

McKinney says she's friends with Allison Dahle, Hall's opponent in the Tuesday, May 8, Democratic primary, but isn't working with Dahle's campaign and never encouraged voters to support a specific candidate.

Hall's supporter, Linda Gunter of Cary, photographed McKinney and filed a complaint with the state elections board, alleging McKinney broke campaign rules by distributing materials that didn't include a disclaimer about who paid for them.

Gunter told The N&O she never used the words "illegal" or "breaking the law," but that a handout without a disclaimer "was a red flag to me since I have never seen anything passed out at the polls without it in the 30+ years I have worked the polls."

The elections board's office said the details of every case matter, but McKinney "likely would not have had to report anything because the flyer does not include language supporting or opposing a candidate" as defined under a state law. If it had that kind of language, or if a political organization used campaign contributions to print the flyer, that might trigger disclosure requirements, according to a written statement from Patrick Gannon, a spokesman for the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement.

"We do not have evidence that any campaign finance violation occurred based on the complaint from Linda Gunter. We also do not have evidence that any disclosure of spending would be required," Gannon's statement says.

Regardless of the law, Gunter said, it's only fair to voters to know who prepared and distributed materials passed out at the polls.

"If Kaki had paid for it and was passing it out she should be proud enough to put her name on it for everyone to see," Gunter wrote in an email. "My complaint was to ascertain if it was indeed illegal and what action could be taken. If it's not illegal, I would say that it is a gray area and that everyone should follow what every PAC, committee, and candidate does by including a disclaimer. I say, 'Why not?'"

Joe Parrish, a volunteer at the voting site for N.C. Senate candidate Wiley Nickel, witnessed the confrontation between McKinney, Hall and Gunter.

McKinney was saying "Hey, I'm not with any campaign, I'm just a concerned citizen and I hope you'll read this before you vote," Parrish recalled.

"It was somewhat heated. It wasn't yelling, but it was stern. Duane and his helper were very stern that she shouldn't be doing that," Parrish said. Hall told McKinney, "you should be ashamed of yourself," Parrish said.

Hall didn't respond to a request for comment. Gunter said the discussion was never heated.

Hall has denied allegations of sexual harassment — which were first reported by NC Policy Watch — although he acknowledged an inappropriate kiss.

He has sent out mailers to voters emphasizing his support for public education, including one containing praise from Gunter, a former state senator and teacher.

McKinney said her main motivation for distributing the article was to raise awareness about Hall because she was a victim of harassment about 35 years ago. "It was my own MeToo moment," she said.

McKinney now has a daughter "who will soon enter the workforce." She said she wants to do her part to create environments where women feel safe.

McKinney says she and Hall know each other. McKinney has visited the legislature to advocate for stricter gun laws, and Hall has been a supporter of such efforts.

As for their interaction at the polls, McKinney said Hall told her he was "disappointed" because she didn't let him explain himself. McKinney said she had no interest in talking to Hall so long as he kept a confrontational tone.

McKinney said Hall then became more calm and they walked across the street to talk. Hall, she said, then explained that the stories about him weren't true.

McKinney told Hall that she had done her own research and believed them to be true.

Hall then "looked me in my eye and said, 'I can guarantee you that no woman has talked to you about being harassed by me,'" McKinney recalled.

"I was stunned," she said. "Like, 'How would you know who I've talked to?'"

After talking for somewhere between 15-30 minutes, McKinney said she ended their conversation. She walked back to the area where volunteers were standing and picked up her stuff.

Parrish, the volunteer for Nickel's campaign, then walked her to her car. McKinney, he said, was in tears.

“If someone talks to you, takes your picture, and then you're crying and you leave, it certainly looks like intimidation," he said.

In a news release after the publication of this article, Dahle criticized Hall's treatment of McKinney and called on him to resign. "I am seeing a pattern of intimidation and harassment by my opponent and his supporters," she said in the release.

In a phone interview, Parrish pondered: Would Hall or Gunter have acted differently if McKinney's articles included a disclaimer about who paid for them?

"It seems to me like, maybe that technicality wasn't so important as getting her to stop," he said. "I think that was the intent."

This story was originally published May 3, 2018 at 11:00 AM with the headline "She distributed news about Duane Hall to voters. Then he confronted her.."