PENDER COUNTY — A Pender County School Board candidate who has submitted her intentions to run for District 4 is drawing criticism from the Pender County NAACP.
June Robbins has been a registered voter in Burgaw since 1976, according to voter registration records and the Pender County Board of Elections Director Dennis Boyles. As of Feb. 7, Robbins officially changed her residency to an address in Willard, stating she was moving in with her mother who was sick and needed help with everyday needs.
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Robbins’ husband, Wilfred Robbins, is a current Town of Burgaw Board of Commissioner; he told Boyles that he had no intention of changing his address. Doing so might make him ineligble for his position as a Burgaw Commissioner.
Unlike New Hanover County, where School Board members are “at large,” and can run for any open seat with a residency anywhere in the county, the Pender county board is divided into districts. Candidates must live in the specific region of the county assigned to an open seat in order to run.
President of the Pender County NAACP Dante Murphy sent a letter to June Robbins on Feb. 20, informing her of a complaint alleging she was changing her address simply to gain a seat on the school board.
“The complaint alleges that you are a longtime resident of Burgaw, North Carolina and changed your address for the purpose of securing a seat on the school board. Please respond to these serious allegations as we want to be fair in the information disseminated about you regarding your candidacy for Pender County School Board. We want to be equally fair to Pender County citizens, especially, District 4 voters,” Murphy wrote in the letter. She had not responded to Murphy’s letter as of Tuesday, nor did she respond to to requests for comment about this story.
According to Boyles, there were initial questions surrounding Robbins’ change of address, however, he said he has to take a candidate’s word as truth. There are safeguards in place that allow others to resolve issues arising around qualifications of a candidate, he said.
A candidate’s qualifications can legally be challenged, but there are some rules to submit a challenge, according to state law.
- A challenge to a candidate may be filed under this article with the board of elections receiving the notice of candidacy or petition no later than 10 business days after the close of the filing period for notice of candidacy or petition.
- The challenge must be made in a verified affidavit by a challenger, based on reasonable suspicion or belief of the facts stated. Grounds for filing a challenge are that the candidate does not meet the constitutional or statutory qualifications for the office including residence.
- If a challenge discovers one or more grounds for challenging a candidate after the deadline … the grounds may be the basis for a protest under G.S. § 163-182.9
The burden of proof in the situation of a challenge to a candidate would fall on the challenger to prove the candidate in question is not qualified, Boyles said.
Current District 4 Board of Education member is Katherine Herring, according to Murphy, the only elected African American in Pender County.
2-20-18 June Robbins Inquiry by Michael James on Scribd
2-22-2018 June Robbins Response (1) by Michael James on Scribd
