The former executive director of the N.C. Republican Party has resigned from an elections oversight role in the state auditor's office.
Dallas Woodhouse has faced criticism for contacting county election officials to propose changes to early voting locations and hours. He had been serving as an elections liaison for State Auditor Dave Boliek since last year.
Public records obtained by news outlets like Carolina Public Press and NC Local show that Woodhouse contacted county election board members with recommendations about early voting. Several county election boards across the state have been divided along party lines over where to locate early voting sites and whether to offer weekend hours.
In Granville County, for example, the elections board voted last month to eliminate a popular site in Creedmoor, which leans Democratic, in favor of a new site in the conservative-leaning Stovall area. Carolina Public Press reported that Woodhouse encouraged keeping a total of four sites there. The Granville County Board of Elections is meeting later this week to reconsider its decision.
In Jackson County, Boliek pushed for an early voting site at Western Carolina University to be moved off campus, and NC Local reported that Woodhouse had advised a local elections board member on how to respond to a reporter's inquiries about the issue. And in Anson County, Woodhouse discouraged the local elections board from eliminating weekend early voting hours, Carolina Public Press reported.
Woodhouse addressed the criticism in his resignation letter, dated Monday.
"Selecting early voting sites is among the most difficult responsibilities entrusted to local election officials," he wrote to Boliek. "Every county presents different geography, population growth, transportation challenges, budgets, available public buildings, and community expectations. There is rarely a perfect answer, and reasonable people frequently reach different conclusions. I am certain that my advice was not always correct. Looking back, there are recommendations I might make differently today. I certainly would have been more precise in my communications at times. But every recommendation I offered was made honestly, thoughtfully, and with integrity. My only objective was to help local boards comply with the law while improving voter access and strengthening public confidence in our elections."
Woodhouse says he plans to return to the private sector and hadn't planned for a longer tenure in the job. He noted that his hiring last September came at an unusual time, as the legislature shifted oversight and appointment power for the State Board of Elections and county boards from the governor to the state auditor. That move put Republicans in the majority on both the state board and all 100 county boards for the first time since 2016.
"With the successful completion of the transition, the establishment of productive working relationships with every county, and the systems now firmly in place, I believe the need for a dedicated Elections Liaison has naturally come to an end," Woodhouse wrote. "Accordingly, I believe this is the appropriate time for me to move forward and return to the public policy, communications, and advocacy work that has defined much of my career."
Prior to joining the auditor's office, Woodhouse had served as North Carolina director for the conservative political group American Majority and as a staffer for the conservative John Locke Foundation. His "elections liaison" job was unusual in that he reported directly to Boliek, not to the State Board of Elections or its executive director.
Boliek has taken a more hands-on role in elections administration than the governors who previously held the appointment powers.
Early voting schedules continue to be controversial across the state, and a State Board of Elections spokesman said the board plans to meet in mid-August to decide on early voting plans where county boards couldn't reach a unanimous vote.
So far, a total of 13 counties have submitted early voting plans that lacked a unanimous vote at the local level. They include Chatham, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Harnett, Iredell, McDowell, Nash, Pitt, Rockingham, Rowan, Scotland and Wayne. In some of the counties, some elections board members want to open more sites than the board majority's plans, while other disputes involve hours and dates for early voting.
As of Tuesday though, 49 of the state's 100 counties have submitted early voting plans that have unanimous support from both Republicans and Democrats on the county elections board.
