NC State Auditor Dodges Questions About Private Staff Texts Vowing to ‘Shove’ Early Voting Plan ‘Down Their Throats’ 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, American Oversight released records from the office of North Carolina State Auditor Dave Boliek showing his staff engaged in a private text message conversation with a then-county elections board chair where an offer was made to help the local Republican official “shove our new Granville early voting plan down their throats” and “tell the Democrats where to go stick it.” The nonpartisan watchdog released the records soon after Boliek declined to directly answer questions about them at a public event in Raleigh.

At the event, hosted by The Assembly, reporter Bryan Anderson asked Boliek about the texts. In response, Boliek dodged the question and failed to address the crude comments and partisanship of his current and former staff who are charged with the nonpartisan administration of North Carolina’s elections.

Boliek hired Dallas Woodhouse, a former executive director of the North Carolina Republican Party, as his office’s liaison to county boards of elections. Woodhouse resigned in July amid controversy over his messages to county election officials. Records and reporting have since shown Boliek’s office weighing in on early voting sites in several counties, and Woodhouse deleting messages from his phone despite instructions to preserve them. American Oversight has been pressing OSA for months to produce all of its staff’s communications with county election officials. The office has said it can no longer access Woodhouse’s personal devices or accounts.

“North Carolinians deserved a straight answer today, and they didn’t get one. Records from Auditor Boliek’s own office show his elections liaison promising a Republican county elections chair they would ‘shove’ an early voting plan down her colleagues’ throats and ‘tell the Democrats where to go stick it.’ That is partisan pressure on decisions that shape people’s access to the ballot,” said Chioma Chukwu, Executive Director of American Oversight. “For workers with long shifts, seniors, people with disabilities, and Black voters and other voters of color, where and when they can vote can make all the difference. Auditor Boliek owes the public an explanation for why his office continued pressuring county boards after Woodhouse resigned. We will keep pressing for answers and the full record.”

In a May 27, 2026, group text that included Kelly Mann, a government affairs staffer in Boliek’s office, Woodhouse wrote to Larue Ulshafer, then chair of the Granville County Board of Elections: “Larue: Let Kelly Mann and I know here (copied here) when your meeting is to shove our new Granville early voting plan down their throats. One or both of us will be there to support you and tell the Democrats where to go stick it.” Mann replied, “Look forward to meeting you Larue!”

At the Granville board’s June 16 meeting, a board member said she had asked Ulshafer on May 26 whether the proposed changes came from the State Board of Elections or the county Republican Party. The board member also said that on May 27, the day of the texts, Ulshafer replied that “the auditor’s guidance” was to have at least three early voting sites —  one in the north, south, and central part of the county. The board voted along party lines in June to eliminate an early voting site in Creedmoor and move another away from downtown Oxford. Ulshafer called Boliek “the boss” at the meeting, said the plan carried out Boliek’s vision, and resigned from the board afterward.

The records also show that OSA’s outreach to county election officials continued after Woodhouse resigned. On July 31, Mann texted Lenoir County Board of Elections member David Fillippeli asking him to call her, and on August 14 she sent him photos of an email about the State Board of Elections’ August 20 meeting to decide counties’ split early voting plans. In another text, she asked a county board member identified as “Linda” for a screenshot of that email, writing, “I’ll remove any county specific, your name & info. A few county chairs told me they did not receive the email.” The State Board decided early voting plans for 20 counties at its August 20 meeting, mostly siding with Republicans.

Other records show Woodhouse working through personal email accounts. On June 3, State Board of Elections member Angela Hawkins — a former Wake County Board of Elections member — used their personal email address to send Wake County early voting data to Woodhouse’s Gmail account, copying Mann’s official address and cautioning that “if looking at Sunday turnout, the comparison must be done by voters per day or hour. Early Voting on Sundays is 5 hours in Wake county.” The attached data shows Sunday was among the three busiest early voting days in Wake County in the 2018, 2022 and 2024 general elections. Woodhouse had previously suggested that counties could end Sunday voting. Sunday hours are important in many Black communities because of “Souls to the Polls” events.

After voters elected a Democratic governor in 2024, the Republican-led legislature moved control of the State Board of Elections from the governorship to the newly elected Republican auditor. Gov. Josh Stein challenged the law, but a divided North Carolina Court of Appeals upheld the transfer in September 2026.