With the election for the 9th District in the U.S. House ongoing and municipal elections in Robeson County three months away, the board that oversees the voting is in complete disarray and the county should be flushed red with embarrassment.

The board, which should have five members, is down to three, and the possibility exists that a hearing by the state Board of Elections could end with the removal of a third member, Chairman Tiffany Peguise-Powers. That hearing is scheduled for later this week, but the chances are pretty strong it will be postponed as Hurricane Dorian makes its way up to coast, giving state officials other priorities.

The first shoe dropped after the local board heard a complaint on Aug. 13 that Olivia Oxendine, a Republican who joined the board in February, had displayed signs in her yard supporting Republican Dan Bishop for the 9th District seat in the U.S. House. Although the elections board is partisan, members are asked to maintain a non-partisan public profile, and part of that is not openly giving the appearance of endorsing candidates, including through yard signs and on social media.

Oxendine took her medicine, resigning about a week later, but said while doing so she might be moving from the county, so her stay on the board might have ended anyway.

Then, just as we expected, accusations were hurled in the other direction. Board members Karen Nance and Peguise-Powers were accused of also violating state policy by expressing public support for Dan McCready, the Democrat running against Bishop in District 9.

Hearings were scheduled by the State Board of Elections, but in Nance’s case, one is no longer needed. She submitted her resignation on Friday, leaving Peguise-Powers, Larry Townsend, a Democrat, and Jack Moody, a Republican, as the remaining board members.

Three members represent a quorum, but that could be lost depending on what happens with the Peguise-Powers hearing. There have been plenty of photos of Peguise-Powers and McCready circulating on social media, but the key could be when they were taken. Peguise-Powers, Nance and Oxendine all joined the board in February, with Moody coming later, when former board Chairman Steve Stone retired from the position.

It’s all an ugly look for Robeson County, which remains stained from the District 9 race. Although Bladen County is where the absentee ballot fraud occurred at a level sufficient enough to prompt the ordering of a new election, plenty of observers confuse that activity with Robeson County.

And then there is the fact that this county doesn’t exactly have the greatest reputation when it comes to elections. This reputation is largely the result of all of the get-out-the-vote hauling that is so vulnerable to corruption.

Serving on an elections board is a thankless job. The pay isn’t great, and comments trend negative, without a whole lot of attaboys. But certainly this county is deserving of better than it is getting.

The county deserves a board with members who can at least strive to follow policy and give the appearance of being able to act in a dispassionate manner.

At this point, we think the only way that happens is with a new board. It looks as if we may be getting one.