Marvin McFadyen has submitted a request for the North Carolina Board of Elections to review its staff’s Feb. 4 decision that granted a petition to remove him as elections director for New Hanover County.
In a letter dated Sunday to state chairman Josh Howard, McFadyen, who was removed as director last week at the request of two of three members of the county elections board, challenges the authority of Deputy Director Amy Strange to render the decision in place of the state’s executive director, who had previously been recused from the case.
Josh Lawson, a spokesman for the state elections board, said the director, Kim Strach, recused herself because she and McFadyen had seen each other socially more than a decade ago. Lawson said Strach recused herself to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest, adding there was no concern that Strach could have reached an unbiased decision.
Lawson said Howard assigned the duty to Strange, who rendered a decision last Wednesday that said she found just cause for removing McFadyen as requested by county board chairman John Ferrante and member Marlene Mitchell. Fellow board member Tannis Nelson opposed the petition.
In his letter, McFadyen questions the authority of the deputy director to render a decision in the executive director’s place.
That statute—N.C. G.S. 163-35—refers only to the executive director as the person who “shall render a decision as to the termination or retention of the county director of elections.” Such a decision is considered final unless the state board defers the case for a hearing within 20 days of the decision.
Lawson noted the statute does not afford a director a right of appeal to the board. He also noted the board has not granted an exemption to a director’s decision for at least 15 years.
In her decision, Strange cited an incident last fall in which McFadyen’s computer was found to be the source of several emails containing confidential voter information that were viewable on the county’s public computer terminal. Referring to evidence in the petition and McFadyen’s response to it, Strange said McFadyen’s “failure to follow state and federal laws and county policies” to prevent those emails from appearing on the computer, as well as his explanation of why the incident occurred, warranted termination.
In his appeal to the state board, McFadyen says he accepts responsibility for the failure but maintains he “was not individually responsible for the public disclosure of confidential information…”
“I accept responsibility for the errors made by those under my supervision,” McFadyen says. “I want to apologize to each (and) every voter whose information was disclosed, and hope that the New Hanover County Board of Elections sees fit to finally notify these individuals such that they can take steps to protect themselves and their personal information.”
McFadyen also says the county board in its petition made claims he can prove to be false, and he urges the state board to consider the entire petition and his full response to it, including exhibits that accompany them.
The county board is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Ferrante, the board chairman, has said the meeting would include discussion of next steps for the board to move forward in light of McFadyen’s removal.
Related stories:
- Elections board petitions state to remove director McFadyen
- Elections director responds to requested removal, calls chairman ‘forceful, stubborn’
- Elections board to investigate response to ballots discovered on public computer
Jonathan Spiers is a reporter for Port City Daily. He can be reached at (910) 772-6313 or jonathan.s@portcitydaily.com. On Twitter: @jrspiers
