WILMINGTON N.C. — An investigation into a local school board member for attempting to remove political signs on polling grounds has been dropped upon review by the New Hanover County district attorney.
On Oct. 21, Wilmington resident Neal Shulman filed a report against Democrat incumbent Nelson Beaulieu for taking down a political sign at the New Hanover County Board of Elections, located at the northeast library. The New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case — listed as a criminal incident of larceny or theft — after receiving video footage captured by a campaign volunteer.
READ MORE: School board incumbent under investigation for removing political signs
It shows Beaulieu pulling up a white sign denoting “Nelson Beaulieu voted against teacher raises” before he put it back into the ground. Beaulieu confirmed to Port City Daily on Tuesday he was the figure in the footage.
According to District Attorney Ben David, who reviewed the video with the sheriff’s office, the incident did not “rise to a level of criminal conduct.”
North Carolina state statute 136-32 regulates election signs — no larger than 6 feet and 42 inches off the ground — and states it’s illegal for anyone to “steal, deface, vandalize, or unlawfully remove” them. There are penalties for being charged with breaking the statute, a Class 3 misdemeanor, that can rack up to $1,000 in fines.
Port City Daily sent an email to the district attorney for clarification on how he came to his decision and asked if he considered recusing himself from the investigation, as he did with commissioner chair Julia Olson-Boseman’s state bar case. David did not respond by press and the article will be updated if and when PCD hears back from him.
However, he told WHQR his office has handled complaints during the election season in the past. David added since the DA’s office doesn’t benefit from school board funding — as it does from the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners — a conflict of interest wasn’t apparent.
Unaffiliated voter Shulman, who has made multiple candidate signs this election season, but not for a campaign organization, isn’t happy with the results. He said it’s clear what Beaulieu’s intent was.
“Why is the DA and sheriff not wanting to prosecute this when there’s been a crime committed?” Shulman asked Port City Daily. “Because what Nelson did, in essence, was take the law into his own hands. Now, if he’s allowed to take the law into his own hands, that gives carte blanche for everyone else to take the law into their own hands.”
The Military Cutoff sign-removal isn’t the only one Shulman said he has been made aware of. Witnesses at the New Hanover County Senior Center on College Road, another early-voting location, told him his signs were evacuated from the premises and said Beaulieu was behind it.
A spokesperson for the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office confirmed no other report has been filed regarding Beaulieu.
Shulman is considering taking witnesses to the magistrate and handing over facts of the case to see if anything more can be done.
“I have to wonder if this is political backtracking; the DA is a Democrat too,” Shulman said.
Beaulieu said he is in the process of filing a complaint with the state board, claiming the signs Shulman has placed around town are “legally questionable for many reasons,” one being they did not identify who was paying for them.
Print media, radio, and television ads must be reported as political contributions and expenditures, including the disclosure of who purchased the ad for the campaign. According to statute 163-278.39, individuals spending less than $1,000 are not required to include a “paid by” notation.
Beaulieu also said the ads were libelous, particularly accusing him of what he said are baseless claims. In addition to the sign Beaulieu was caught removing, others have been erected by Shulman, stating “Nelson Beaulieu did not support our sexual assault victims.”
“I’m all for free speech,” Beaulieu said, but “these signs have absolutely no basis in fact and have no place in this election.”
He said he has never voted against teacher raises and worked with the last school board to change how the district has handled sexual assault and harassment.
Therefore, Beaulieu asserts, according to statute 136-274(a)(9), the signs have been put up with intentional malice and fall under “derogatory reports with reference to any candidate in a primary or general election.”
“If signs like this were allowed, then any candidate, Democrat or Republican, would run in an environment where any person could make libelous, outrageous, claims anonymously and with zero accountability,” he wrote to Port City Daily. “During past elections when similar signs were found and made public, they were removed. Accountability and transparency require adherence to applicable election law.”
Beaulieu had no comment on the district attorney’s determination, nor reactions when he learned the investigation was open against him. Instead, the school board member said he was turning his attention toward the needs of “students not signs.”
“Just focused on doing my job,” he said.
In a statement released by David’s office on Thursday, he said:
“While the particular facts in this incident did not result in a criminal charge, my office and law enforcement will evaluate these instances, as in all allegations of crime, on a case-by-case basis.”
Port City Daily also asked if other sign removal cases have been brought to the DA’s attention but did not hear back by press.
In his statement, David reminded the public to refrain from interfering in the democratic process of elections and respecting differentiating viewpoints: “It’s a good reminder that individual rights to free speech are protected and sacrosanct in our country.”
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