From Staff Reports 

HENDERSONVILLE — The Hendersonville County Board of Elections decided that a Republican board member, Linda Rebuck, would be allowed to remain on the board — and not be censured, reprimanded or called to resign – during an emergency meeting here on Sept. 16.

Instead, the board voted unanimously “to move on to the important tasks of running a major election,” the Hendersonville Lightning reported on Sept. 18.

“‘Everybody wants to be on the same page here,’ board Chair Clay Eddleman told a crowd of activists from both major political parties that overflowed the meeting room. He pointed out that board members are appointed by the Board of Elections — not the Henderson County Board of Commissioners,” the Lightning noted, quoting Eddleman, as he added, “‘As private citizens, we absolutely have the right to free speech.’” 

Further, the Lightning reported, “Eddleman went on to say that political statements made by board members representing themselves as Henderson County Board of Election members may, however, be in violation of state election laws and may be grounds for removal. Such a removal, however, can only be made by the state board — not the county’s.”

Meanwhile, the Raleigh News & Observer reported on Sept. 12 that Rebuck was reprimanded for — allegedly — spreading false information, advocating for the Republican Party,  

Specifically, RN&O stated that the North Carolina State Board of Elections reprimanded Rebuck for spreading “false and misleading statements” to state lawmakers and advocating for Republicans to win the 2024 elections.

Specifically, the state board said Rebuck sent an email to about 30 Republican state legislators in August in which she warned of a “concerted effort to turn Henderson County blue” via improper verification of absentee and new voter applications. 

“I want to strongly state my belief that if you do not intervene immediately either legislatively or legally, we are going to lose N.C. to the Dems in November which will likely mean we lose the country,” Rebuck wrote. “The responsibility will be yours, one way or the other.” 

In a response letter to Rebuck, the state board’s executive director, Karen Brinson Bell, said her statements, which had been forwarded to a wide audience, were “sensationalistic and inflammatory and will undermine voter confidence with no facts to back them up,” the RN&O reported.

Brinson Bell also noted that state law bans members of election boards from publicly supporting any candidate. “Whether or not the statements violate these provisions, it undermines the public’s confidence in the fair administration of elections if their elections officials are widely communicating their desire for a particular outcome in an election they oversee,” she wrote.

Brinson Bell stated that, in statewide training and guidance emails, “the state board explicitly told county officials not to accept any registrations from new voters who did not include this identification and did not check the box to indicate that they do not possess either of those forms of identification. If a registrant does check the box saying they have neither identification number, then they will be sent a ‘request for identification’ letter and be required to show an ID before they vote,” the RN&O added.