2021 election results still being contested
Robbinsville – A pair of Lake Santeetlah council members will have a chance to argue their case against the much-disputed 2021 general election results.
Jim Hager and Diana Simon – the only two incumbents who remained on the council after November’s ballots were cast, thanks respectively to a coin-flip tiebreaker and by virtue of receiving the most votes overall – have worked together to compile evidence over the last several months to help dispute the voter eligibility of eight separate Lake Santeetlah residents.
Together with Hager’s own investigative work, Simon filed voter challenges against the Hutsell family – Amelia, Dean, Kaylee, Linda, Olivia and Savannah – as well as John and Tina Emerson, on June 1.
The Graham County Board of Elections has set a 1 p.m. preliminary hearing concerning the challenges for today. The hearing will take place at the Graham County Community Building, and The Graham Star will be on hand for coverage.
Motivation
No one can dispute one part of the case: Hager and Simon did their homework.
Through an open-records request, The Graham Star received the massive stockpile of paperwork. There are 465 pages combined between the eight filings, with Tina (143 pages) and John’s (142) challenge carrying almost half of the totality alone. Simon’s filings went through Asheville-based law firm Roberts & Stevens.
The dispute arose due to an unusually high number of write-in votes that occurred in November, which amounted to a virtual flip-flop in the majority voice on the council. Connie Gross, Emerson and Ralph Mitchell all received 14 individual write-in nods and since, have created a united front at meetings to implement changes within the Town of Lake Santeetlah.
Gross was appointed mayor shortly after the results were canvassed (finalized) by the Graham County Board of Elections.
Simon emailed Graham County Board of Elections director Teresa Garland shortly after the results were announced, stating that she was “surprised” by the voter turnout for the town.
There were 67 write-ins, or 52.37 percent of the total votes cast in the municipality.
Much of the dispute falls on a gray area in N.C. G.S. 163-57, where someone can simply state an intent to reside in a county to be eligible to vote.
“All election officials in determining the residence of a person offering to register or vote, shall be governed by the following rules, so far as they may apply: (1) That place shall be considered the residence of a person in which that person’s habitation is fixed, and to which, whenever that person is absent, that person has the intention of returning …” reads the beginning of the statute.
The Hutsells
Across each of the eight forms, boxes are checked for the following challenges:
* The person is not a resident of the county in which the person is registered;
* The person is not a resident of the precinct in which the person is registered;
* The person is not a resident of the municipality in which the person is registered.
It is well known that the Town of Lake Santeetlah is mostly populated by part-time residents who live in Graham County during the spring and summer, before departing for another part-time residence for the late fall and early winter.
The Hutsells’ challenges are unique in that throughout much of the documents, addresses of employers, social-media screen grabs of current locations and even tax-assessor bills tend to show the majority of their time is spent elsewhere.
But the Hutsells do have a structure in Lake Santeetlah. The Graham Star will not be printing specific addresses in this report.
“In or around 2018,” as verbiage contained within Dean’s challenge says, the Hutsells’ Lake Santeetlah residence was destroyed by a fire. Work to rebuild the home has lagged, with one photograph showing the structure just receiving new siding sometime between Nov. 4, 2021, and Jan. 8, 2022.
However, the challenge does later show that Dean Hutsell had voted exclusively in Buncombe County from 1992 to 2020, before switching his registration to Graham County on Sept. 29, 2021. On the voter-registration form Dean completed, he lists a mailing address in Fairview, a suburb of Asheville – as do the other Hutsells.
Each of the Hutsell children have stated an intention to retire to Lake Santeetlah.
The Emersons
Tina and John Emerson have much of the same evidence compiled by Simon and the law firm, with one glaring exception: the Emersons do have a livable structure at Lake Santeetlah. However, included in the affidavit is the claim that Simon has not – through her familiarity with the Emerson’s Santeetlah residence – seen the residence occupied on a “permanent” basis.
“I base this assertion on the fact that, except when I am on vacation, I drive by the Alleged Residence on an almost daily basis and have not seen anyone staying at the Alleged Residence on a regular basis, have not observed any cars associated with the owners of the property at the Alleged Residence on a regular basis, and have not observed any lights or other use of the property that would indicate that someone was permanently residing in the Alleged Residence,” reads one paragraph of the affidavit.
What follows the affidavit and voter-registration are multiple photos of the Emersons’ Lake Santeetlah residence.
At this point, council member Jim Hager appears in the filing with his own sworn affidavit, noting the presence of a silver Chevy SUV that is often parked at the Emersons’ Santeetlah home, but “is not the vehicle primarily used by Mr. Emerson.
Ms. Emerson’s primary vehicle is a white Volvo sedan. Mr. John Emerson’s primary vehicle is a large black SUV.
“I have only seen John Emerson in the Town of Lake Santeetlah twice during the time period between Jan. 1, 2022, and May 11, 2022.”
Instead, the filing contends that the Emersons reside at a property in Mathews, a suburb of Charlotte. According to the voter-registration forms included in the challenges, John voted in Mecklenburg County from 2004-20 before switching his registration to Graham County on Sept. 28, 2021.
In Tina’s case, she has voted in Mecklenburg during the same time period, but it is noted that she switched to Graham County to vote in both the 2017 and 2021 elections.
Original attempt
Protests were filed shortly after the November election, which sought to have the votes for Gross and Emerson thrown out, as well as the desire for a new election altogether to be held.
However, section 14 of the voter-protest form – “affected parties and service” – was left blank on both submissions. The section requires that anyone being challenged be notified within one business day of the protests being filed and notes that it is up to the protester to provide service to those being challenged, whether it be through an attorney or a mailed document.
The Graham County Board of Elections dismissed the protests at a special Nov. 17 hearing. N.C. State Board of Elections Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell later informed both Simon and Hager of the dismissal of the protests at the state level Dec. 6.
Citing N.C. G.S. 163-127(c), N.C. G.S. 163-182.9 and N.C. G.S. 163-127.2(a), the board dismissed both Simon and Hager’s appeals for not being filed in a timely manner.
“Rather than follow these requirements, Simon filed a candidacy challenge with the Graham County Board of Elections, using the State Board’s candidacy challenge form that may be used up until 10 days after the close of election filing,” a portion of Brinson Bell’s explanation read.
Furthermore, Simon’s appeals “contends that the county board did not properly consider her candidacy challenge …” and that 11 different voters “improperly registered to vote” in Lake Santeetlah, “which substantially changed the outcome of the election.”
After Hager – who recently served as the town’s mayor – was struck down at the local level, he mailed the State Board of Elections an appeal, which did not follow N.C. G.S. 182.11(a): “Written notice of the appeal must be given to the county board within 24 hours after the county board files the written decision at its office.”
In the form mailed to the state, Hager contended the Graham County Board of Elections processed his candidate and voter challenges, but said he “never filed an election protest;” rather, Hager said in the appeal that the Graham County board “should have considered his candidate challenges and voter challenges.”
End game
One thing is certain: a new election will not be held, regardless of the outcome. However, the Graham County Board of Elections informed The Graham Star that today’s hearing could eventually lead to the case being heard in Superior Court.
In the end, all eight being challenged could be removed from Graham County’s voter roll. If this occurs, Emerson could be removed from the office by the Lake Santeetlah council for being ineligible to serve. Furthermore, a fraudulent vote cast in North Carolina is a felony, so District Attorney Ashley Welch could opt to prosecute if the challenges are successful.
The Graham Star reached out to Hager, Simon, Dean Hutsell and Tina Emerson for comment in its June 16 report on the challenges being filed. Hager and Simon indicated an intent to reply, but nothing was ever received and it was later discovered that both instead spoke to a regional publication about the challenges. Dean and Tina did not respond to the original request for comment.