Anson Board Of Elections Alleges Years Of Mismanagement By Director

By Carolina Journal Staff

The Anson County Board of Elections has formally petitioned the North Carolina State Board of Elections to remove county elections director Sherry Melton. The board also recently voted to terminate the deputy director of elections.

The newly-seated Republican-majority board took action after what members describe as years of election administration failures that went unaddressed by prior Democratic-controlled state and local election boards. According to sources familiar with the case, the failures amount to serious violations of election law, including recently discovered failures in ballot security, unlawful voter assistance, interference with board authority, and repeated violations of election law going back more than 5 years.

The petition and supporting evidence file submitted to the State Board of Elections remains confidential unless the director is removed for cause. However, sources familiar with the investigation say the Anson County board has accused Melton of:

• Failure to execute lawful board directives and conduct undermining the board’s ability to perform its duties
• Interference with the statutory duties of the Anson County Board of Elections
• Mismanagement and dishonesty affecting election administration
• Conduct unbecoming an elections official and county employee

Melton told Carolina Journal over the phone on Tuesday that she has filed a response to the allegations directly with the NCSBE but would not be willing to share or make the response public.

State Board of Elections executive director Sam Hayes is expected to issue a decision on the removal petition in the coming days.

Problems stretching back to 2020

Review of public records, sworn affidavits, meeting minutes, complaints, and internal correspondence examined by Carolina Journal paints a troubling picture of election administration in Anson County stretching back to at least 2020, when Melton became director.

Among the conflicts, in November 2020, US Rep. Dan Bishop publicly accused Melton and county elections officials of allowing improper assistance to voters during early voting and demanded the release of surveillance footage he said would substantiate the claims. According to local newspaper the Anson Record, Bishop threatened legal action if the video was not promptly produced and subsequently pursued court avenues. By mid-November, portions of the footage circulated publicly, including clips aired by local television outlets showing a campaign-affiliated individual near voters. However, during the county canvass, officials and the county attorney pushed back, arguing the edited videos lacked full context and did not conclusively demonstrate wrongdoing.

Located an hour east of Charlotte on Highway 74 along South Carolina border, Anson County is a Tier 1 county, meaning it is considered by the Department of Commerce to be one of the 40 most economically distressed counties in the state. Home to 22,000 majority-African American residents, the county has a median household income of $47,000, nearly half of North Carolina’s average household income.

“Something’s not right”

Current Democratic members of the Anson County board say they were not told of the petition and only found out about removal of the deputy director moments before the board voted to do so in closed session. On April 2, Anson County Democrats protested outside the county’s board of elections office, as reported by WSOC-TV.

“We are here because something is not right,” protestor Leon Gatewood told the news outlet.

“Decisions appear to have been made behind closed doors and presented as a done deal,” Gatewood said.

“That is not due process, that is not transparency, and that is not justice,” Democratic board member Ross Streater told WSOC-TV.  He reportedly said he was blindsided by the decisions and has filed a complaint with the state.

Alleged criminal interference with board authority

Among the most serious allegations leveled by the county board in the petition is that Melton violated NC Gen. Stat. § 163‑274, which makes it a Class 2 misdemeanor to interfere with the lawful duties of an election board or its members.

According to sworn statements submitted by board members, Melton allegedly cancelled a duly called and publicly noticed meeting of the Anson County Board of Elections scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, at 5pm, without board authorization. The meeting had been set pursuant to NC Gen. Stat. § 163‑31, which grants authority to the board chair or a majority of members — not staff — to call meetings or adopt a meeting schedule. The board chair alleges that she did not become aware of the cancellation until seeing the public notice over the weekend and was unable to reach Melton in time to reissue the meeting notice before the statutory deadline expired.

Board members contend that by nullifying a duly called meeting, Melton obstructed board oversight, prevented lawful decision‑making, and violated both state law and state board policy.

Breakdown in ballot security and chain of custody

North Carolina law and state elections board rules strictly govern the handling of marked ballots, including continuous chain‑of‑custody, sealing, reconciliation, and secure transport. The State Board of Elections’ official manual requires sealed ballot containers, documented custody transfers, and full reconciliation. Deviations from these requirements constitute violations of mandatory election security procedures.

According to public records, Anson County board members Matthew Longworth and Kelly Knapp say they discovered during the March 6, 2026, meeting to examine provisional ballots, that proper chain of custody procedures including the critical “sealing” of Election Day ballot bags, boxes, and machinery was not preformed properly or recorded for verification purposes. According to NCSBE guidelines, this constitutes a violation of election security.

The Anson County board also contends that during the Nov. 7, 2025, Board of Elections sample audit meeting, “sealing” of ballot bags, boxes, and machinery were also not performed properly or recorded for verification purposes.

“Such failures could be used to call an entire county’s election results into question, exposing the Anson County Board of Elections to serious legal and financial risk,” a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity told CJ. “Eventually, the Anson GOP Board members concluded proper handling, chain of custody, and sealing of ballots and devices was not performed at most Anson voting locations during the last two elections, possibly for years.”

Blind Voter Complaint and Federal Law Violations

According to a written complaint reviewed by CJ, Anson County voter Donna Burr, who is blind, requested an accessible voting machine at the sole early voting location in Anson County on Oct. 23, 2024. According to the interview transcription of her complaint, Burr says she was denied an accessible machine by Melton. She filed the statement at the time of the incident, and it was signed by Melton along with other witness statements.

Such a denial would be a violation of the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA), signed into law in October of 2002, requiring that by 2006 all voting locations provide at least one accessible voting machine per polling place. Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires state and local governments to ensure that people with disabilities have a full and equal opportunity to vote. HAVA enshrined that visually and hearing-impaired voters have the right to vote privately and independently, keeping their ballot choices secret.

According to the transcript, Burr stated that she told Melton she wanted to vote privately and independently.

“I know what she was talking about, but I don’t have it,” Melton allegedly told witness and Burr’s friend, Teresa Goodwin. Burr later decided to allow Goodwin to mark her ballot. 

“I did not want to give up my right to vote; this was unacceptable,” Burr wrote in the complaint. “This experience was not a pleasant one. I was disrespected, alienated, and my right to privacy was disregarded. To be honest, I trust my friend who filled out my ballot for me; however, I cannot be 100% confident who I actually voted for since I did not have the accessible voting machine.”

Alleged Undermining of Precinct Official Appointments

Emails submitted to the NCSBE also allege a series of irregularities and improper conduct by Melton official in Anson County during the lead-up to the 2025 municipal elections. According to the emails, the issues stem from an August 2025 meeting of the Anson County Board of Elections, where precinct appointments were being finalized. A statement signed by the board chair alleges that Melton made disparaging remarks about Republican nominees for precinct judge positions, including publicly stating that a Republican-nominated chief judge for the Lilesville precinct was “too fat and too unhealthy” to serve. The statement further claims Republican leaders believed Melton’s comments were influenced by a personal interest in reinstating a previous Democratic chief judge, identified as her sister, Monica Grambling.

The county board also alleges that Melton improperly altered precinct assignments after it had formally approved them, despite state law prohibiting such unilateral changes by election directors.

Grambling has also filed a formal complaint with the NCSBE against three GOP members of the Anson County Elections Board — Kelly Newton, Matthew Longworth, and Kelly Knapp — alleging Election Day interference, improper exercise of authority, and conduct creating a hostile and disruptive work environment at the Wadesboro Precinct on March 3, 2026.

Lilesville precinct Chief Judge Ronnie Clawson stated in a sworn affidavit that he was contacted by Melton and pressured to withdraw from his position shortly before the November election. Clawson alleges Melton called him at his home and attempted to dissuade him from serving, citing his lack of experience, and later denied making similar calls to others. The board also alleges that similar outreach may have discouraged other Republican-appointed election officials from serving, contributing to last-minute changes in staffing. board members also allege that the final list of precinct officials, distributed days before the election, differed from the version approved months earlier, and allege that some Republican appointees were not contacted, trained, or were persuaded not to serve.

The NCSBE executive director Sam Hayes will now decide whether the documented allegations merit the removal of Melton, Anson County’s elections director under North Carolina law N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-35.1. Meanwhile, the county’s Republican-majority board of elections is already planning a comprehensive overhaul of Anson’s elections administration. The outcome could have statewide implications as North Carolina’s elections are largely run at the county level.