RALEIGH, N.C. _ The Wake County Republican Party chairman filed a complaint against the chairman of the North Carolina elections board Wednesday, alleging his social media habits show favoritism toward candidates on the ballot and show "contempt for the principle of public neutrality."
The complaint, sent to Gov. Roy Cooper and State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement Executive Director Kim Strach, asks for the state board to remove Andrew Penry and replace him with "a fair-minded individual who will act in the public interest and not show favoritism towards any party or clique."
Penry, a Democrat, was appointed to the board by Cooper earlier this year.
The complaint comes as the North Carolina General Assembly prepares to reshape the board after a three-judge panel found the board's current makeup unconstitutional.
The complaint, filed by Charles Hellwig, includes 17 pages of examples of tweets Penry has sent since becoming the chairman of the NCSBE, including one saying President Donald Trump needs a "diaper change." Another tweet calls the recently passed constitutional amendment to preserve the right to hunt and fish the "hunt n' feesh" amendment.
State law requires anyone on the state board to not make any "written or oral statements intended for general distribution or dissemination" to the public that supports or opposes a candidate or nominee for office or a referendum or ballot proposal.
"Unfortunately, the Chairman of the State Board, Andrew Penry, has continuously and blatantly ignored these safeguards," the complaint reads. "Due to this behavior, he has clearly violated North Carolina law and must be removed from his post as Chairman and as a member of the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement."
He lists being chairman of the board in his profile on Twitter. The complaint says his account "expresses clear public animus towards" candidates as well as constitutional amendments that were on the November 2018 ballot.
An email and phone message left with Penry wasn't immediately returned.
