Formal complaint filed against Eggers, Aceto

Amid more than two months of controversy surrounding the Watauga County Board of Elections, three county residents filed a formal complaint last week against the two Republican members of the county’s Board of Elections.

Former board member Stella Anderson joined Ian O’Keefe, vice president of College Democrats of North Carolina and Jesse Presnell, a county Democratic Party official, to call for the removal of board chairman Luke Eggers and secretary Bill Aceto.

Presnell said the complaint was sparked in part by the elimination in August of an early voting site and an election day polling location on Appalachian State University’s campus.

The complaint states that Eggers and Aceto were guilty of “official misconduct, participation in intentional irregularities, unethical actions and incapacity and incompetency to discharge the duties of their offices.”

“We started talking about what we needed to do to make sure that our voting rights and the voting rights of the people of Watauga County were protected,” Presnell said.

According to the complaint, Eggers and Aceto called meetings without appropriate notice, failed to respond to requests from Democratic board member Kathleen Campbell, discussed plans with non-board members and disproportionally targeted the voting rights of ASU students.

“I would call it a laundry list of things that they have done,” Presnell said. “We hoped that things would get better, but they have only gotten worse.”

Aceto said he first heard of the complaint after being interviewed by another reporter and said he was surprised by the accusations.

He issued an official response disputing the complaint, but said that from what he understands, the State Board of Elections will not decide if they want to hear the complaint until after municipal elections in November.

Aceto said he thinks there is misinformation about the polling location changes and the reasons behind those changes.

“The new locations are central to the university and centrally located in the precinct,” he said. “They’re very close to neighborhoods and also for university students.”

But Campbell said Aceto and Eggers have consistently voted for measures that make it harder for students to vote.

“Basically they don’t listen to anybody except for (Eggers’ brother), who is the county attorney and is pulling the strings behind the scenes,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

ASU student body president Dylan Russell said his administration is not endorsing the complaint, but said they will continue to educate and register student voters.

He said he’s concerned about future elections in the county.

“It’s like (board members are) saying it is just a municipal election and there is not very much at stake, so don’t worry about it,” he said. “In every election there is a lot at stake. We have to get that message out to students.”

The complainants have received criticism that the complaint is driven by partisan politics — but Presnell said the accusation is unfounded.

He said the group is pushing to have a polling place that was moved out of a traditionally Republican precinct restored because that location is best for voters.

“This is not about party politics,” he said. “It is about access to the polls.”

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