On Wednesday, the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) officially appointed three new members, who will serve four-year terms, and selected a new chairman.
The new board gave executive director Karen Brinson Bill a new two-year term.
The NCSBE, responsible for overseeing elections in North Carolina and collaborating with 100 county boards, acts as the designated state agency. It also assumes the role of supervising campaign finance disclosure and compliance.
On Monday, Gov. Roy Cooper announced his three selections for the board. The N.C. Democratic Party nominated two of the new members, while the state Republican Party nominated the other.
Only two existing members were reappointed. Departing board members include Chairman Damon Circosta, a Democrat and executive director of the A.J. Fletcher Foundation; Republican Tommy Tucker; and Democrat Stella Anderson. Stacy Clyde “Four” Eggers IV and T. Jefferson Carmon III continue from the previous state board.
Kevin Neil Lewis, an attorney from Rocky Mount associated with Valentine Law Firm, nominated by the N.C. Republican Party, is a new addition to the NCSBE. He has been serving on the Nash County Board of Elections since 2007 and chaired the board from 2013 to 2019.
Alan S. Hirsch from Chapel Hill was appointed to be the new chairman of the State Board of Elections. He is the CEO of Biorg, president of the North Carolina Healthcare Quality Alliance, a former N.C. deputy attorney general and policy adviser under former Gov. Mike Easley, and previously chaired Cooper’s DHHS transition team.
Siobhan Millen, a lawyer from Raleigh, was also nominated by Cooper and the N.C. Democrats. She is an activist for Democratic get-out-the-vote efforts and initiated legal action against the Wake County Board of Elections to contest the purging of voter rolls. Millen has been actively involved in voter registration campaigns since the Obama campaigns and currently works with the League of Women Voters of Wake County, in addition to assisting in registering voters at Wake County jails and naturalization ceremonies.
Carmon, residing in Raleigh, has been serving on the board since 2019. He holds the position of counsel and associate director of legal and compliance at Mycovia Pharmaceuticals Inc. Carmon’s nomination was made by the N.C. Democratic Party.
Eggers, hailing from Boone, was nominated by the N.C. Republican Party and has been serving on the state board since 2020. He is the managing partner of Eggers Law Firm.
According to a state law enacted in 2018, the governor possesses the authority to appoint members to the NCSBE, although nominations are sourced from the Republican and Democratic state parties. Additionally, no more than three members can belong to the same party.
Cooper has requested a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit initiated by unaffiliated voters who are seeking the right to serve on the NCSBE. Cooper, a Democrat, filed this motion to dismiss the case approximately two months after Republican legislative leaders made a similar request. Common Cause, a left-of-center activist group, is collaborating with five individual unaffiliated voters to challenge the state law pertaining to elections board appointments.