County election board members named in complaints – again
By: Alan Wooten - Bladen Journal
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ELIZABETHTOWN — For the second time in two months, two Democrats on the Bladen County Board of Elections have been named in complaints filed with the state board.
A date for the preliminary consideration hearing has not been set. Patrick Gannon, a spokesman for the state board staff, on Monday confirmed receipt of the complaints filed by Jane Pait of White Oak.
Louella Thompson, the chairwoman of the county board, was appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper. Pait says in the complaint received by the state Nov. 26 that Thompson “has posted several Facebook posts that demonstrate opposition to the declared Republican nominee for the Office of the President of the United States, which — in this case — is Donald J. Trump, who is also the sitting President of the United States.”
She provided attached screenshot copies. These images are the same as filed Sept. 30 by Wayne Schaeffer, the chairman of the county’s Republican Party.
Pait says the posts violate state statute because they cross the boundary of allowable individual expression, and are intended for public distribution.
The complaint against Sheppard is tied to the panel member’s comments about Trump on this newspaper’s website. Pait cites the same statute as with Thompson, that board members are allowed individual expression but “not intended for general public distribution.” Pait says the public forum is a means of intentional public distribution.
On Oct. 18, complaints against Thompson and Sheppard filed by Schaeffer were dismissed by the state board. It was a party line vote, with three Democrats voting to dismiss and two Republicans voting to move from preliminary consideration to a hearing.
Schaeffer complained about the same Facebook posts by Thompson. He had more complaint points against Sheppard than Pait has cited.
Schaeffer, who was not on the conference call, said later in response to the dismissal there would be “a follow up.” Thompson was not on the call either, or represented by counsel. Sheppard was represented on the call by Joshua Malcolm, a Robeson County lawyer and the former chairman of the state Board of Elections.
The Facebook posts by Thompson include an adjusted image from the movie “The Lion King,” with the president’s face imposed and the caption “The Lyin’ King.”
The other is of a woman in clothing from an earlier century, perhaps the 20th, with a bubble caption attached in which she says, “I am not denying anyone their freedom of speech by celebrating Trump-Free Day. I am exercising my right to be free of the fool’s whining and lying for one day.” The image also has words to the side which say, “Give POTUS the one present he hates most — no audience to play to. Celebrate a Trump-Free Flag Day instead. Relax. Smile. Share, tweet, and tell your family, friends, and co-workers. No Trump for a day — your first step to a Trump-Free Future.”
The posts were made in June and July.
Sheppard is cited by Pait for her exchanges with other commenters. In one back-and-forth, there is a point at which Sheppard writes, “You certainly get upset when I point out that Trump is a racist, sexing, lying deviant. As the ideal Christian you think yourself to be, I don’t know why the truth offends and upsets you so much.
“I have not decided who I will support in 2020, but it will not be a racist, sexist, lying, adulterous, sexually deviant moron like Trump.”
Pait also filed other examples, one of which calls attention to Trump’s gender and race. The comments were made in April.
Bladen County’s board was gradually appointed earlier this year. Sheppard, Democrat Deborah Belle and Republican Emery White were each appointed by the state March 21. Cooper appointed Thompson prior to an April 15 meeting of the new board. The date of the Facebook posts by Thompson and comments by Sheppard were after their respective appointments.
Republican Michael Aycock joined the board Aug. 13. He and Schaeffer are listed on Pait’s complaints in the section for “names and addresses of persons who have knowledge related to the charges filed.” Aycock was also listed on Schaeffer’s complaints; he did not participate on the conference call.
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