By Jesse Wood
In less than two weeks, the makeup of the three-member Watauga County Board of Elections will likely look different with the appointment of the members for the next two-year term that begins in July.
State Board of Elections spokesman Joshua Lawson said that the State Board of Elections received nominations for the boards around the state, including Watauga County, from the state parties.
While the state party officially sends nominations to the State Board of Elections, local parties provide input on these nominations. Since the governor is Republican, the three-member board consists of two Republicans and one Democrat.
Lawson said that Republicans nominated Luke Eggers and Bill Aceto, both currently sit on the board, and also Nathan Miller, an attorney in Boone and former chair of the Watauga County Board of Elections.
The Democrats nominated Stella Anderson, who previously served on the Watauga County Board of Elections before this prior two-year term, and no one else.
N.C. General Statutes state that the state chairman of each party has the right to recommend three registered voters in each county for the appointment to local boards of elections. If those recommendations are made to the State Board of Elections 15 days prior to the last Tuesday in June, then it is the “duty of the State Board of Elections to appoint the county boards form the names thus recommended.”
However, since the Democrats only nominated one person, Lawson said that the State Board of Elections could select someone other than Anderson.
Lawson said that the appointments will be made by June 30.
Larry Henson, staff in the Watauga County Board of Elections office, said that while new board members will be sworn in on July 24, the first meeting with the new board will take place during its regularly scheduled meeting on July 1.