{"id":3427,"date":"2026-06-18T23:05:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T23:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3427"},"modified":"2026-06-18T23:05:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T23:05:57","slug":"political-theater-state-auditor-pushes-back-against-nc-election-bill-criticisms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3427","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Political theater\u2019: State auditor pushes back against NC election bill criticisms"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) \u2014 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.<\/p>\n

Read more Hotels across Raleigh selling out ahead of Carolina Hurricanes Championship Parade<\/a><\/p>\n

House Bill 958 would, among other provisions, require the State Auditor\u2019s Office to conduct audits of election processes and procedures in counties of its choosing across North Carolina.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t expand any duties at all with respect to elections,\u201d Boliek told CBS 17. \u201cThe State Auditor\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Voting rights advocates have criticized the proposal, arguing it would give an elected official a greater role in election oversight. Boliek rejected that characterization.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe governor is elected too and the governor previously had elections,\u201d he said. \u201cThe governor\u2019s the most political person in the state of North Carolina. This is not new in North Carolina.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boliek, a Republican, argued the backlash has more to do with who holds the office than the bill itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe criticism of the state auditor having elections is because the current state auditor is a Republican,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the suggestion that politics would be involved? I can chew gum and walk at the same time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is political theater when people chime in on the fact that an elected official has any authority over anything,\u201d Boliek continued. \u201cI believe governors can chew gum and walk at the same time too.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important because there\u2019s very little, if any, accountability oversight in terms of making sure and giving the voter confidence in the process and procedure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Read more Maryland exercises its right to match an $85 million offer to keep Preakness branding rights<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite supporting the legislation, Boliek repeatedly emphasized he does not believe North Carolina has a problem with election integrity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think there is a crisis in voting in North Carolina,\u201d Boliek said. \u201cI\u2019ve never said there was.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Board of Elections is undergoing right now a scrub of the voter rolls to check to make sure that we don\u2019t have non-citizens on the voter rolls,\u201d he continued. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s a crisis there. And I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a crisis of counting votes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, Boliek said the bill is intended to create accountability and identify potential issues before they become larger problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe point of the bill is, if you don\u2019t 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not an audit of the vote tally,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is not an audit of anything other than the processes and procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boliek also confirmed his office was consulted while lawmakers were drafting the legislation.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Read more Carolina Hurricanes Stanley Cup parade in Raleigh: Everything you need to know<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Political theater\u2019: State auditor pushes back against NC election bill criticisms - Raleigh Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=3427\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Political theater\u2019: State auditor pushes back against NC election bill criticisms - 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