“My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.” — James 2:1
Dear Senator Carl Ford and Representative Harry Warren,
I wanted to bring to your attention recent actions where some NC elected officials and civic leaders are not living by the fundamental Biblical principle to treat other people fairly and with impartiality. Recent news about the actions of the GOP-dominated State Board of Elections (SBOE) and Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek reveal a pattern of actions and choices that show favoritism towards Republican voters over Democratic voters. For instance:
Based on public reporting, some leaked 2024 and 2025 text messages sent by State Auditor Boliek to local county election board members and political allies appear to show that he used his position and political influence to maximize Republican voter turnout by lobbying local election officials regarding early voting sites. The messages show a coordinated effort between Boliek, local party officials and members of county boards of elections to influence the final selection of voting sites, which are legally mandated to be chosen impartially to serve all voters.
Dallas Woodhouse, the former GOP operative hired by Auditor Dave Boliek to work with county boards of election, has resigned after controversies over his involvement in early voting plans came to light. Details of interactions between Woodhouse and county board chairs include one where Woodhouse pressured local election officials to reject a site on Western Carolina University’s campus. One of the local Republican board members spoke in protest of the state interference and in defense of the college site as the best choice for Jackson County. The member, Jay Pavy, said he was voting for the WCU site because it was the best location. “I know that I’m bucking my party on this, and I may be a one-term member of the Board of Elections,” he said. “If that’s it, that’s fine. I will stand on this hill and I will die on this hill.”
Under new rules just approved by the Republican majority on the State Board of Elections, North Carolina elections officials can now more easily throw out people’s ballots during the 2026 midterm elections and beyond. According to Democracy NC, the rule, “hands one party the power to unilaterally trash ballots. The threshold for discarding voter ID exception ballots has been officially lowered from unanimous bipartisan agreement to a simple majority vote. And with all 100 county boards under Republican control, that majority is almost guaranteed.” How blatantly unfair for whatever party is in the minority!
I might add, I noted that you both voted in favor of granting State Auditor Boliek election appointment powers in 2024. Since 1901, the power to appoint election boards has been a function of both Republican and Democratic sitting governors here in NC. The state auditor in North Carolina is a constitutionally mandated, non-partisan-acting role designed to oversee the state’s finances, ensure government accountability and conduct objective audits of state agencies. Mr. Boliek’s decisions should therefore be impartial regardless of political party. Sadly, his actions prove differently.
Think of it like a referee at a game. The referee must follow the same rules for all players and teams. If not, the game is corrupted. If the GOP-dominated SBOE and Republican State Auditor Boliek continue stacking the deck in favor of turning out mostly Republican voters and controlling which ballots are “thrown out,” won’t our NC elections be corrupted?
Please respond to this letter with your thoughts regarding the recent changes in the North Carolina election process, the actions of the state auditor, and whether these things are fair to all North Carolinians.
