Republican legislators had already transferred authority over elections in North Carolina from Democratic Gov. Josh Stein's office to GOP State Auditor Dave Boliek.
That resulted in the reshaping of the state and county elections boards, installing Republican majorities. It also meant a leadership change at the North Carolina State Board of Elections, which, under its new GOP majority, appointed Sam Hayes to be executive director.
Hayes previously served as general counsel to the Speaker of the State House, Republican Destin Hall, as well as his predecessor, Tim Moore.
On Wednesday, the GOP-led legislature pushed through a mini-budget bill that creates seven elections administrative staff positions that are exempt from North Carolina's human resources law. In other words, political appointees.
State Rep. Phil Rubin, a Wake County Democrat, warned his colleagues that creating such positions is a dangerous move.
"I think it is one that other folks in this room will come to regret in the coming years as this agency becomes more political because you should know that it won't always be political in your direction," Rubin said before Wednesday's passage of the bill.
Elections in North Carolina are administered mostly by nonpartisan bureaucratic staff. The exceptions are the appointed members of the state and county elections boards and the state elections director.
"This is not a statewide elected office," Rubin continued. "It is not a political office; it is a nonpartisan agency that is supposed to be the referees, the neutral party that runs our elections."
In comments to reporters, Speaker Hall defended the addition of political appointees to the elections board staff as it ramps up for the 2026 midterm elections.
"Obviously, by our estimation, the prior Board of Elections failed in multiple ways in conducting the elections in this state," Hall said. "So, we just want to make sure they've got the resources that they need."
An effort by Republican state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin to overturn his electoral loss in November put the state elections board at the center of a highly charged partisan battle.
Ultimately, a federal judge dismissed Griffin's case because it attempted to change the rules of an election after ballots had been cast.
The spending bill now goes to the governor's desk.
