Friday, March 04, 2016

Four Eggers Ejected From ASU Early Voting Site

Four Eggers
Yesterday was chaotic in the Appalachian State University Early Voting site mandated by the State Board of Elections (SBOE) over the objections of Watauga County Board of Elections Chair Bill Aceto. One might think at least some of the chaos was the result of Aceto&Company's hostility, as students who wanted to register and vote -- still legal under North Carolina law -- got bad information and were often turned away. Later, those processes and the bad information was corrected, but at what cost already to young voters who were only trying to exercise their right to vote?

A video of the long lines in the ASU Student Union yesterday blew up almost instantly on the InnerTubes, and these images were captured before the line got really long. (You can see the video on the AppState Student Government Assn. Facebook page.)

Into this high-pressure setting -- that is, into the actual voting enclosure in the Blue Ridge Ballroom, where poll workers were trying to process the hundreds of students and where there were too few voting machines to handle the traffic -- strolled, late-morning, the most notorious Watauga County Republican political operative, one Four Eggers (Stacy C. Eggers IV), who sat himself down in the voting enclosure and proceeded to shuffle papers.

The man who as County Attorney and chief political officer for the Watauga County Republican Party installed his own puppet brother in 2013 as head of the local Board of Elections; the man who began to write new rules for the Board of Elections that punished then Elections Director Jane Anne Hodges and removed polling sites on the campus of ASU; the man who did everything in his power to put roadblocks up against student voting; the man who colluded behind the scenes with a Republican member of the SBOE to get his policies rubber-stamped, no questions asked; the man who made sure that a long-established Early Voting site in the ASU Student Union was removed in 2012; and the man whose actions and policies were ruled thuddingly unconstitutional by a Senior Superior Court Judge in 2014.

Yeah, Four Eggers, setting himself up in the voting enclosure, where he had no right to be. No earthly right whatsoever. No right as county attorney. No right as a private citizen. Certainly no right as a highly visible Republican political operative.

He was eventually run out of there when someone who did have a right to be in the voting enclosure threatened to call the SBOE and report his presence.

That was the atmosphere yesterday at the ASU Early Voting site. Where, nevertheless, voting far outstripped all other satellite Early Voting sites in the county.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Unbelievable

Opinionated said...

James - Quite believable, I fear.

Brother Doc said...

What is the definition of a "voting enclosure?" Just curious. I have used several different voting sites over 40+ years in Watauga County and I know the difference between being in a room where voting is going on and standing at an actual booth where people fill out the ballot. If Four was hogging a voting booth, well for sure that was unconsionable. Surely that wasn't what he was doing, was it? Like, if the Blue Ridge Ballroom is the Temple, is a "voting enclosure" somehow like the Holy of Holies where only priests can go? And was Four acting like the High Priest of Watauga he wishes he were? So what I'm asking, can you describe the "enclosure" for those of us who weren't there? BTW what a great vindication of the need for an ASU early voting site yesterday's turnout was! Thanks for all the efforts of all concerned to get one there.

Vicki Boyer said...

So glad to hear someone had the guts to threaten to call the state about this. SBOE should get a court order trespassing g him from all polling places.

Anonymous said...

Totally Believable! He's a jerk!!!

Anonymous said...

What is the definition of "ejected"? Did you mean to headline this "Four Eggers Gets Up And Leaves"?

Anonymous said...

Four, you have dishonored your fine family name & reputation, your office, the Republican Party in this county, and the institution from which you graduated.

Anonymous said...

Wondering the same thing that Brother Doc is curious about - where exactly was Four Eggers sitting?

He's worked hard to make it impossible for students to vote. Must be crushed by all the voting going on around him.

J Parker said...

Send him as a peace emissary to Russia to advise Putin on voter suppression techniques.

J.W. Williamson said...

Well, Anon !:04, perhaps I should have titled it "Four Eggers Gets Up And Leaves After Being Told He HAD TO LEAVE and After a Call Was Placed to the Chief Counsel of the State Board of Elections." Would that have been better?

Anonymous said...

Told by whom? You have a history of damning by innuendo and telling half truths which leads me to be somewhat skeptical of your postings.
No offense intended.

Anonymous said...

To Jerry - what was Four Eggers doing at this site? How long was he there? Where was he sitting?

What an ODD thing for the attorney for the county to do! Was Four acting in his role as county attorney to ensure the voting board did its job? Bit squishy all around!

Anonymous at 9:24pm "No offense intended" - so disingenuous! You clearly meant to offend. Please stand behind your insults instead of claiming "no offense intended." Lies don't move any argument forward.

Opinionated said...

I believe he was told by a voting official who had a right to be there and knew that, under the law (which Four is supposed to know), Four had NO right to be there. the law is clear - only Election officials and Voters may stay in a voting enclosure (in this case, the room where voting is occurring). The only exceptions I have seen in the last 45 years have been people running in for a quick question of said officials, spouses of said officials or others who are bringing snacks or lunches, and small children accompanying their parents and learning about the democratic process.

Anonymous said...

He should have been shown the door head first. He's a real communist.

Anonymous said...

Simple enough question ....WQHO is the person who Jerry alleges"ejected" Eggers. Shouldn't be too hard to answer.
My view is that Four left on his own and that, in "DemSpeak", this constitutes "ejection".

I really didn't intend to give offense. This is a Democrat blog and I only pointed out that the postings here are somewhat - shall we say - biased? I just asked for a couple of verifiable facts.

Anonymous said...

To anonymous at 1:16pm - despite the fact this is a "Democrat blog," it's not really "biased" to point out the fact that a key GOP activist, who also serves as the county's attorney, plopped himself into a room full of voters where he didn't belong. Eggers didn't belong there. Period. The leeway given to Republican operatives to act outside of the rules is quite scary.

You DID intend to be offensive - or perhaps the GOP mindset is so full of the need to name call and trash-talk (witness the GOP presidential debates!) that you don't even realize how offensive GOP rhetoric has become. Reagan would be so very sad.

Anonymous said...

You deem it offensive to ask the name of the person who JW ALLEGES "EVICTED" Four Eggers from a polling site?
It would seem that if someone EVICTED him, that "someone" must have had authority to do so. I would just like to find out who it is.

And, if you consider it "offensive" to ask for facts to back up his position, so be it.
Just the name of the person who evicted Mr Eggers. Doesn't seem to be too much to ask.

Of course, the truth is, nobody "evicted" Eggers. He got up and left of his own accord.

And, let's not forget he is actually the official, designated, real life attorney who represents the Board of Elections. I wouldn't be too quick to ASSUME that he "didn't belong" there. Unless you actually have facts which have not been presented in JW's hate piece, you would serve yourself best by remaining on the sidelines.

Anonymous said...

What was he doing at the contested site? Certainly not helping people vote. Eggers' expressed intentions have been to shut down that site - specifically to limit access to voting. Look at the numbers!!! Why was the county's lawyer sitting in the midst of such a contested site? You tell me. It doesn't make sense.

I love that you recommend that I stay on the sidelines. That's exactly the GOP's goal with all the voter restrictions... and it's soon unAmerican. I can't believe what's happened to that party. Seized by extremists. Very sad.

J.W. Williamson said...

Stella Anderson, the Democratic member of the Watauga Board of Elections, asked and then insisted that Four Eggers leave the polling place enclosure. And he did, unwillingly.

Anonymous said...

Unwillingly? Police dragged him out? Stella beat him into submission? Come on, JW. You know he simply got up and left when she made an issue of it. I guess it makes better propaganda to convince your herd of sheep that he was EVICTED! But, I suppose, it wouldn't be nearly as interesting.

Thanks for responding.

Camelot said...

Ok Anonymous why did he just leave. If he had every right to be there. When you are asked to leave by an official and you do then you know your somewhere your not supposed to be. If he had stood his ground the Sheriff would have been called to escort him out. The officials are supposed to ask nicely for you to cooperate which Ms Anderson did. Four knowing he was caught left to save his family the embarrassment of being taken out by the Sheriff.

Anonymous said...

WHY WAS THE COUNTY'S ATTORNEY SITTING IN THE MOST CONTESTED VOTING SITE IN THE COUNTY?

Certainly not to advocate for anyone voting in that room. He is very young, Mr. Eggers and he needs to take some civics classes to fully understand WHY voting matters.

Have no idea why NCGOP feels compelled to make voting harder in the state. But I have a feeling it is because their policies are so destructive - the only way to win is to prevent people from voting.