Ousted top election official in key swing state urges civility toward 'caretakers of our democracy'
Source: AP
Updated 6:27 PM EDT, May 9, 2025
The former North Carolina elections director who was ousted this week after a politically motivated move by Republicans said Friday she hopes the new leadership will approach elections in a nonpartisan way and called for an end to verbal attacks against those who oversee the voting process. Karen Brinson Bell, who will leave the job next week, has served as the state’s top election official for the last six years -- through hurricanes, the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of the 2020 election.
In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, she described the “filthy language” and insults that had been directed at her over the years and attributed it to a “lack of understanding” about the law and her job to follow it. She noted that other election officials across the country have been subjected to death threats and harassment in recent years. Since the 2020 election and the false claims of widespread fraud and manipulation of voting machines, several individuals have been prosecuted for threatening election officials.
“I hope that we get back to a place of civility, a place where it’s understood that election professionals are the caretakers of our democracy and that very fundamental right to vote,” Brinson Bell said. “And our integrity should not be questioned for adhering to the rules and making sure that they’re executed properly.”
Brinson Bell’s removal followed a law passed late last year before state Republicans lost their supermajority in the legislature, which they used to override the governor’s veto. It took the Democratic governor’s authority to appoint election board members and handed that power to the state auditor, a Republican. While there’s precedent for a new director to be hired when a change occurs in the board, the circumstances of Brinson Bell’s ouster were extraordinary.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/north-carolina-election-director-republicans-power-ee4ec571f0ec5fb1acd5714ddec1c811
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