Nathan Layne

(Reuters] – North Carolina’s Republican Party leader threatened to have a county elections director fired and her wages cut if she did not help him obtain illegal access to vote equipment. The state election board confirmed this to Reuters.

William Keith Senter from the party sought evidence that would support conspiracy theories that suggested that Trump was defeated in 2020. This previously unknown incident was part of an effort by Trump supporters, to audit voting systems in support of their baseless theft-election claims.

Senter was the chair of Surry County Republican Party and threatened to fire Michella Huff if she didn’t comply with his request to view the tabulators in the county. According to state elections board, Senter “aggressive and threatening” in meetings with Huff.

Senter didn’t respond to our requests for comment.

Huff was upset at the threat of political intimidation. Since the 2020 elections, such threats are common across the country. In a series investigative reports, Reuters documented over 900 threats and hostile messages directed at election officials. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/section/campaign-of-fear

“It’s a shame, that it is being normalized,” Huff told Reuters. “I didn’t expect to get it here in our county. We’re just trying to obey the law and complete our tasks.”

Senter’s demand could constitute a possible violation of state laws. Mark Payne was an attorney retained to assist the Surry County Board of Elections in responding to community requests for a “forensic auditor” of voting machines. He wrote that accessing voting machines is illegal. A state statute states that anyone who threatens, intimidates or harasses an election officer can face felony charges.

Senter and a prominent pro-Trump election conspiracist, Douglas Frank, met with Huff on March 28, claiming “there was a ‘chip’ in the voting machines that pinged a cellular phone tower on Nov. 3, 2020, and somehow influenced election results,” the state election board said, calling the claim “fabricated disinformation.” Separately, in a public gathering that Huff did not attend, Senter threatened to have Huff’s pay cut, according to Huff, who said a person at the meeting told her about the threat.

The board stated that Frank spoke in Dobson two days prior to meeting with Huff. This is a rural town of 72,000 residents on the border with Virginia. He talked about “debunked conspiracy theory about the 2020 election.” The day after the meeting, Frank, an Ohio math teacher, thanked his “patriot” hosts in a post to the messaging app Telegram about his trip to North Carolina and said he was “leaving behind a bonfire burning in good hands.”

Frank didn’t respond to our requests for comment.

Huff’s exact plan for retaliation by Senter is still unclear. Senter claimed to have the support of five Republican Surry County commissioners to pursue action against Huff. The state election board has the power to give Senter and the commission no official control over her work. Three Democratic members make up the state board, while two Republican members are on it.

Huff was a Republican and is now an independent.

Bill Goins was the chairman of county commission, and while he declined to speak on Senter’s efforts, he confirmed that Huff would not be fired.

Patrick Gannon, the spokesperson for the state board elections stated in a statement, that Huff was threatened by the board and had reported it to the federal, state and local authorities. The board would also continue to report any attempts to disrupt state and federal elections, harass, or intimidate officials.

The incident has not led to anyone being charged.

On Saturday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and North Carolina Department of Public Safety did not respond to our requests.

Shawn Myers, Dobson Police chief, stated that he wasn’t aware of Huff’s threats and didn’t believe that his department had responded. Sheriff Steve Hiatt declined to comment.