Dallas Woodhouse, a former GOP operative working in state Auditor Dave Boliek’s office, has been reassigned from his job as liaison to county elections boards.
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This follows news reports about Woodhouse’s work behind the scenes to move early voting sites.
NBC News first reported Woodhouse’s reassignment. NC Newsline confirmed the change with state Board of Elections Chairman Francis De Luca, who said Woodhouse told him late last week that he was changing jobs.
De Luca said Woodhouse did not offer a reason.
“He told me he was moving to a different part of the department,” De Luca said. “He did not sound upset or bummed about it.”
Randy Brechbiel, Boliek’s communications director, did not respond to an email about the change or whether the position will be filled.
County elections chairs received an email last Thursday from Boliek’s office saying Woodhouse would no longer be working on elections matters and advising them of a new person to contact. Bob Hall, a voting rights advocate and government watchdog, obtained the email through a public records request.
Woodhouse is a former executive director of the NC Republican Party and ran the state chapter of Americans for Prosperity. Shortly after Republican state lawmakers moved oversight of state elections from the governor to the auditor last year, Boliek, a Republican, hired Woodhouse as an election liaison to the 100 county boards.
In an email to county board chairs last year, Boliek wrote Woodhouse would serve “as my eyes and ears on the ground in our elections process,” with responsibilities to include shaping early voting plans, election policy, and oversight.
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A GOP county elections board member said he was warned against voting for a campus polling site
Efforts to change early voting sites for the general election erupted in controversy this year when Republican members of the Jackson County Board of Elections said they received “pressure from Raleigh” to keep an early voting site off Western Carolina University’s campus.
The Jackson County board voted to maintain the university site anyway, with a Republican member voting with Democrats. One Republican board member had resigned shortly before the vote.
NC Local reported last week that Woodhouse sent Jackson County board Chairman Bill Thompson a text message saying “Don’t let them have a vote” the morning before the June 2 meeting on early voting sites.
During that meeting, Thompson tried unsuccessfully to convince other board members to delay a decision on early voting sites until a replacement for the member who resigned was appointed.
Voting rights groups had been suspicious of Woodhouse’s position in Boliek’s office given his work history. Ten years ago, when he was GOP state director, he sent a memo to Republican members of county election boards telling them to limit early voting hours and keep sites closed on Sundays.
“For more than a decade, Dallas Woodhouse has actively worked to slash early voting for North Carolinians,” said Common Cause NC Director Sailor Jones. “Make no mistake, no one in the state Auditor’s Office should have the mandate to meddle with our state’s early voting options.”
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