RALEIGH — As a Jan. 20 deadline to select a new District 2 county commissioner looms, the unexpected death Monday of candidate Hubert Sealey contributes to the appearance that the race for the seat is wide open, with Pauline Campbell as the front-runner.

No other candidates have officially announced their intention to run for the seat, but Fairmont Commissioner Terry Evans said he is a likely nominee. Evans was a delegate during the first vote, and officially joined in protesting the outcome.

The Robeson County Democratic Party was ordered Saturday by the state party to hold a second meeting to select a replacement for the late Berlester Campbell to the Robeson County Board of Commissioners. Pauline Campbell, Berlester’s widow, beat Sealey on Nov. 15 by a vote count of 26.5 to 23.5.

The next selection meeting of precinct officials has not been set by Robeson Democratic Chairman Edward Henderson, but nominations will be taken from the floor.

According to Sybil Mann, chairman of the state party’s Council of Review, the vote was nullified because of proxy voting and other issues. The council took issue with precinct officials who do not live in District 2 being allowed to have other delegates vote for them by proxy.

Sealey lodged a four-part protest and two of his points were upheld by the state party and two were not.

The review council found that the precincts were organized properly at least two weeks before the selection meeting. The local party also provided proper notification of the precinct organizational meetings, the council found in a review that lasted more than five hours.

Sealey, a three-term representative of District 2 before being defeated by Berlester Campbell in 2014, objected to the fact that at least one precinct officer, who does not live in District 2, picked another person to vote by proxy.

“Only persons living in the district may vote,” Mann said. “Only precinct chairs and vice chairs may vote, unless they live outside the district, then the precinct will not have that vote.”

If a precinct’s chair and vice chair do not live in the district, then the precinct may not vote at all. Those are the rules set out by the state Democratic Party that have been applied to similar cases across North Carolina’s 100 counties, Mann said.

Berlester Campbell died suddenly on Sept. 28. He had won the May 8 primary and was unopposed in the general election. Whoever is selected by the county Democratic Party will serve the balance of his four-year term, which ends in 2022.

The District 2 seat is considered critical on the board, which has often been split during the past year, the most notable example being the effort by some commissioners to buy the Angel Exchange building at COMtech in Pembroke.

At the Saturday hearing, Henderson presented his case after submitting a written explanation of how the votes were allocated. Raleigh attorney Jake Epstein presented Sealey’s case.

The hearing went smoothly, Mann said.

“Each side got the opportunity to be heard,” Mann said. “Everyone was trying to do the right thing in this case.”

The rules for allocating votes are complex. Votes were allocated to each precinct based on how many votes were cast for Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. Town elected officials, who are Democrats, are allowed to vote as is Vanessa Abernathy, a member of the state Democratic executive committee.

Several of the precincts are split between commissioner districts. The precincts that voted in November included Fairmont, Maxton, Rowland, Orrum, Back Swamp and Gaddy’s.

“No one living outside the district may vote, and only the precinct chairs and vice chairs may vote,” Mann said. “It may keep some precincts from voting at all, which seems harsh but this is what the rules say, and there is no provision for anything else.”

The Council of Review found other procedural problems. The county party has no secretary, who should have assisted with the vote to help certify the election, along with the chair.

Also, one ballot was cast anonymously and other had a signature that was illegible. These issues will have to be cleared up at the second election, Mann said.

Fourteen of the 17 delegates to the Council of Review attended the hearing. Thirteen members of the council represent North Carolina’s congressional districts, and four are appointed by party Chairman Wayne Godwin.

“We were pleased with the process,” Mann said. “It was an honor to participate.”

Henderson accepted the judgment, but was not pleased with the rules. He noted that one of the smaller precincts may not get a vote at all.

“Some precinct chairs and vice chairs do not live in District 2, so we thought is was fair to give the precinct a vote by proxy,” Henderson said. “One precinct won’t have any representation.

“I will go by their rules,” Henderson said. “When we set a date, the public will be welcome to attend, but, like last time, I will not allow anyone living outside the district to speak.”

Henderson
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_Ed-Henderson-1.jpgHenderson

Evans
https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_terry-evans_ne20181218183322735.jpgEvans

Scott Bigelow

Staff writer

Reach Scott Bigelow at 910-644-4497 or [email protected].