A powerful NC lawmaker spread misinformation about elections. Here’s what NC’s top election official has to say about it.

Every word of NC election chief Karen Brinson Bell’s rebuttal of misinformation spread by NC Senate President Phil Berger.

This week, one of North Carolina’s most powerful lawmakers, Senate President Phil Berger, reportedly spread misinformation about the state’s vote-counting process.

That’s because, in a crucial race for the NC Supreme Court, Democrat Allison Riggs surpassed Republican Jefferson Griffin during a count of the 60,000 or so provisional ballots cast in the 2024 election. Berger’s a Republican, so he wanted Griffin to win.

In a letter Thursday, the state’s top election official, Karen Brinson-Bell, called for him to retract his statements. Because we take unfounded claims about election fraud seriously at Cardinal & Pine, we are publishing every word of Karen Brinson Bell’s letter. For Cardinal & Pine’s latest reporting on the state Supreme Court race, go here.

Also, here’s a detailed explanation of the provisional ballot-counting process: how it works, who’s running it, and why it’s following the letter of the law.

Here’s Karen Brinson Bell’s letter:

I write you today with an urgent plea for you to retract your statement from yesterday, as reported in the media, that “We’re seeing played out at this point another episode of ‘count until somebody you want to win wins.’” This is an accusation of wrongdoing that has absolutely no basis in fact.

You are a top leader of our state government. What you say matters. When you tell your fellow citizens that an election is being conducted fraudulently, they listen. I fear for the people running elections in this state, including in your own community, that some misguided people will conclude from your statements that actions must be taken, perhaps through the use of threats or violence.

This is not an idle worry. We watched this play out in the wake of the 2020 elections, in state after state, after other political leaders made similar baseless accusations of wrongdoing. It led to an exodus of seasoned workers from the elections profession. And it led to untold amounts of emotional distress experienced by hardworking, salt-of-the-earth public servants.

Election workers, including in this state, still bear those scars. And the fallout continues, with citizens still being told regularly by political leaders, social media personalities, and foreign malign actors that election results are not to be trusted. Your comments, I fear, only contribute to this unacceptable reality in a very significant way, due to your position of authority. I ask you, What sort of free society do we have when the people running elections fear for their lives?

You are an attorney, and you have many able attorneys working for and with you. Any of them could explain the lawful processes that play out during the post-election canvass period.

County boards of elections were duty-bound to count eligible provisional and absentee ballots before canvassing the election last Friday. These included ballots cast for you!

If these processes need clarification, I would be happy to brief you and your colleagues on what the law requires of elections administrators and how they are carrying out those processes lawfully.

If you prefer, talk with the 500 bipartisan Republicans and Democrats serving on the county boards of elections who certified the very votes you falsely draw into question. Do you question the integrity of these board members and the oath they took to conduct elections according to law?

I want to conclude by expressing how deeply proud I am of my fellow North Carolinians who administered an incredibly smooth and lawful election this year, despite very trying circumstances.

I urge you to show your fellow citizens the same gratitude, and to refrain from making baseless accusations of wrongdoing that could put these same people in danger. They don’t deserve the kind of statement you made yesterday. I ask you to please retract it.

Sincerely,

Karen Brinson Bell, Executive Director, State Board of Elections