Consequences of Corrupt Conduct Unsurprising and Insufficient
Political operative Dallas Woodhouse, a long-time advocate for a suite of voter suppression measures, has been removed from his role as ‘liaison’ to county elections boards under the office of State Auditor David Boliek.
The decision occurred following controversial disclosure that Woodhouse pressed the chair of the Jackson County Board of Elections to block that board from voting on its early voting plan. Notably, the plan included an early voting site on the Western Carolina University campus. Despite the board chair’s urging to postpone the vote, the plan was approved with one of its Republican members joining Democrats to vote in support.
State Auditor Boliek did not fire Woodhouse, but quietly moved him to a different job for his office.
Woodhouse’s actions were no surprise to observers of state politics. As one observer noted, Boliek did not repudiate Woodhouse’s efforts, but appeared to act because he “got caught.”
Larger Trend of Republican Motivations
The NC General Assembly last year passed legislation transferring the power of appointing members of the State Board of Elections and county elections boards from Governor Josh Stein (a Democrat) to State Auditor David Boliek (a Republican). Among Boliek’s first moves after the majority-Republican NC Supreme Court allowed the law to go into effect was to appoint Woodhouse.
Woodhouse came into his new state job with an established record of supporting voter suppression measures since at least his tenure as state Republican Party executive director. In 2016, he pressed for county elections boards (which at the time had majority Republican members appointed by then-Governor Pat McCrory) to restrict early voting sites, eliminate voting sites on college campuses, and eliminate early voting on Sundays.
Woodhouse’s Concerning Record as American Majority Director
In reporting on the initial appointment of Woodhouse to the state position, WRAL News noted his recent job as the North Carolina director for the group American Majority, which explicitly describes its goal as helping Republicans and hurting Democrats in elections. “The Progressive Left is set on flipping states that have been reliably ‘red’ into liberal-leaning ‘blue’ states,” the American Majority website says. “This is done with permanent campaigning which does not cease. And only those who understand, anticipate, plan, and yes, spend, on the Right have hope of combating it. We fight it. Every single day. We are American Majority. We are the nation’s premier conservative training organization, helping put in place a truly unique, separate political infrastructure — for use before, during and after election dates.”
