NC GOP Leader Threatened Surry County Elections Official Over 2020 Votes

Pro-Trump supporters protest outside of the North Carolina GOP convention in Greensboro in May 2021. Nationally, incidences of harassment and intimidation against election officials have been escalating as supporters of the former president push for recounts and insist that widespread voter fraud, not the will of the people, ousted Trump from the White House.

By Staff Reports

April 26, 2022

The North Carolina State Board of Elections says a Surry County Republican threatened an elections official to gain illegal access to 2020 presidential votes.

A Surry County Republican party leader is under fire for threatening a county elections official in a bid to discredit the 2020 election results in favor of former President Donald Trump.

Reuters’ Nathan Layne reported that William Senter, chair of the Surry County Republican Party, told elections director Michella Huff he would get her fired if she didn’t grant him unlawful access to the county’s voting machines. He was aggressive with her in at least two separate meetings, according to eyewitnesses that spoke with the NC State Board of Elections.

Huff refused. It is illegal for unapproved individuals to gain access to voting machines, and threats on an election officer could constitute a felony. No charges were filed by time of publication.

Senter, who claimed to have the support of the entire board of county commissioners, does not have any official power over Huff’s position. Nor do the commissioners; her job is overseen by the state elections board.

Similar incidents of intimidation have been widespread since the 2020 election, mainly by Trump supporters promoting unsubstantiated claims of election fraud. Read more at Reuters here.