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RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — North Carolina State Auditor Dave Boliek is pushing back against criticism of an election law bill making its way through the General Assembly, arguing the proposal would not expand his authority and dismissing concerns that it would inject politics into election oversight.
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House Bill 958 would, among other provisions, require the State Auditor’s Office to conduct audits of election processes and procedures in counties of its choosing across North Carolina.
“It doesn’t expand any duties at all with respect to elections,” Boliek told CBS 17. “The State Auditor’s Office has plenary authority to audit processes and procedures at boards of elections. This is a statutory provision that would require the state auditor to do it, as opposed to discretionary going in to do a process procedure on it.”
Voting rights advocates have criticized the proposal, arguing it would give an elected official a greater role in election oversight. Boliek rejected that characterization.
“The governor is elected too and the governor previously had elections,” he said. “The governor’s the most political person in the state of North Carolina. This is not new in North Carolina.”
Boliek, a Republican, argued the backlash has more to do with who holds the office than the bill itself.
“The criticism of the state auditor having elections is because the current state auditor is a Republican,” he said. “And the suggestion that politics would be involved? I can chew gum and walk at the same time.
“This is political theater when people chime in on the fact that an elected official has any authority over anything,” Boliek continued. “I believe governors can chew gum and walk at the same time too.”
According to Boliek, much of the drama surrounding the bill is unwarranted, calling it a common-sense measure designed to add transparency and accountability to North Carolina elections.
“It’s important because there’s very little, if any, accountability oversight in terms of making sure and giving the voter confidence in the process and procedure,” he said.
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Despite supporting the legislation, Boliek repeatedly emphasized he does not believe North Carolina has a problem with election integrity.
“I don’t think there is a crisis in voting in North Carolina,” Boliek said. “I’ve never said there was.
“The Board of Elections is undergoing right now a scrub of the voter rolls to check to make sure that we don’t have non-citizens on the voter rolls,” he continued. “I don’t think there’s a crisis there. And I don’t think there’s a crisis of counting votes.”
Instead, Boliek said the bill is intended to create accountability and identify potential issues before they become larger problems.
“The point of the bill is, if you don’t have some level of accountability and some level of expectation in somebody coming in as an independent entity, then you have the possibility of things slipping over time,” he said.
According to Boliek, the audits would focus on election administration, not vote totals. Audits would examine issues such as ballot security, voter registration procedures, and compliance with election laws.
“This is not an audit of the vote tally,” he said. “This is not an audit of anything other than the processes and procedures.”
Boliek also confirmed his office was consulted while lawmakers were drafting the legislation.
HB 958 includes a number of other election-related changes, including voter roll maintenance and post-election ballot challenges. Lawmakers had hoped to bring it to the House floor for a vote on Wednesday, but that did not materialize because they say there is still work to do.
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