Couple of stories down I-40 —first the Forsyth County Board of Elections will ask the state BOE to look into the mishandling of absentee ballots that –for some reason —were mailed to a neighbor of Winston-Salem City Council candidate Phil Carter. Board Secretary Stuart Russell made the motion to get the state involved:
Russell, who is an attorney, referred the board to N.C. General Statute 163-226.3, which states that it is a felony for someone to “take into that person’s possession for delivery to a voter or for return to a county board of elections the absentee ballot of any voter” unless they are a voter’s near relative or legal guardian. Parker did not appear to be a near relative to the voters, Russell said.
Meanwhile, incumbent council member Derwin Montgomery does a little campaigning at a Winston-Salem State University political science class “then arranged transportation to the elections office in downtown Winston-Salem for the students in the class who wanted to vote.”
I’ll give Montgomery the benefit of the doubt and assume he explicitly stated that the students should vote for the candidate of their choice—not necessarily him— but gosh what a nice guy he is to make such an effort to get them politically involved.
What else do these stories have in common? Both Carter and Montgomery are both East Ward candidates.
