An eight-hour state hearing meant to decide whether Cumberland County Board of Elections member Irene Grimes broke the law by talking publicly about a secret effort to fire the county's elections director instead turned into a wider airing of distrust, finger-pointing and procedural confusion among the board's own members. The North Carolina State Board of Elections ultimately tabled the case until November 24, after this year's midterm elections, leaving Grimes's status unresolved for weeks to come.
The hearing took place Thursday in Raleigh and stemmed from a complaint filed August 3 by Cumberland County voter Shamike Bethea, who accused Grimes of violating her duties by publicly disclosing and commenting on a petition seeking the removal of then-elections director Angie Amaro, according to the News & Observer. Bethea serves as president of the Cumberland County Republican Women's Club, according to CityView NC, a detail that underscores the partisan undercurrents running through the case. The state board had already voted 3-2 along party lines on August 20 to advance the complaint to a full hearing, with Republican member Stacy Eggers IV arguing that publicizing confidential personnel information alone was prima facie evidence of a statutory violation, per the same outlet's reporting.
At Thursday's hearing, the state board heard testimony from board chair Linda Devore, Grimes, Amaro, member Derek Edmonds and senior elections administrator Latasha Hill, according to the News & Observer. Grimes testified that Amaro had given her permission to publicize and discuss the petition, and said she never disclosed information contained within the petition itself — only that it existed. Amaro confirmed on the stand that she had authorized Grimes to post publicly about events affecting her at the county board.
Competing Accounts Over Who Knew What
Devore, for her part, said she relied on a state statute requiring approval from three board members before filing the petition and said she believed a formal board vote was unnecessary. Edmonds testified he did not even know about the first petition before it was filed. Devore also acknowledged she informed a media outlet about a second removal petition without Amaro's approval, and that she confirmed Amaro's paid leave status to a reporter without Amaro's permission — admissions that cut against the confidentiality rationale underlying the complaint against Grimes.
North Carolina law complicates the picture on both sides. Under N.C.G.S. § 163-35(b), a county elections director can only be terminated by the State Board of Elections Director or the State Board itself following formal petition procedures, while N.C.G.S. § 153A-98 mandates that county employee personnel files remain strictly confidential, according to the North Carolina General Assembly. Those competing legal obligations — removal authority resting with the state, confidentiality resting with the county — sit at the heart of the dispute over whether Grimes's Facebook posts crossed a line.
After testimony concluded, board member Jeff Carmon moved to dismiss the case, with Siobhan O'Duffy Millen seconding. The motion failed on a 3-2 vote, the same partisan split that had advanced the complaint in August, before the board instead voted to table the matter until November 24 — three weeks after the November 3 midterm elections.
A Director's Departure After Nearly 25 Years
The underlying dispute traces back to the ouster attempt against Amaro, who had worked with the Cumberland County Board of Elections for nearly 25 years, starting as an administrative coordinator in 2002 before being chosen interim elections director in January 2022 and full-time director that October. Devore, Bree Eldridge and Ryan Johnson signed a petition seeking her removal; Devore testified that Johnson and Eldridge signed it at her house on separate occasions. Neither Edmonds nor Grimes signed that first petition.
Grimes posted about the petition on Facebook on April 18, 2026. Protesters gathered at the board's April 23 meeting to oppose the removal effort — a crowd that, according to CityView NC, included roughly 25 residents and representatives from groups like Common Cause, Action NC and the Fayetteville chapter of NOW holding signs reading “Keep Angie. Fire Linda.” Devore had requested law enforcement presence ahead of that meeting, and two deputies arrived after the crowd grew rowdy, though Edmonds described the protest overall as extremely peaceful.
Amaro was placed on paid leave after that meeting, and the first petition was later withdrawn — only for a second petition to be filed against her afterward. Grimes testified she did not post publicly about that second effort. Amaro spent 99 days on paid administrative leave before announcing her retirement in early August, which officially took effect August 1, according to CityView NC's reporting on her compensation and timeline. She has said she was forced to retire because of a hostile work environment, and testified Thursday that she sought Grimes's help after feeling targeted by the petition, that she did not trust Devore, and that the elections office was in disarray.
Part of a Broader Pattern of Complaints
The complaint against Grimes was the fifth formal complaint filed against members of the Cumberland County Board of Elections between May 2025 and August 2026, CityView NC has reported, reflecting an extended run of internal gridlock. That friction followed a 2024 state law that shifted county election board appointment power from the governor to the state auditor; State Auditor Dave Boliek's appointments in May 2025 flipped Cumberland County's board from a 3-2 Democratic majority to a 3-2 Republican majority under Devore's chairmanship, according to the outlet's earlier coverage. By mid-2025, that same statewide realignment had pushed all 100 North Carolina county election boards to 3-2 Republican majorities, according to Carolina Public Press.
Devore has faced scrutiny of her own. In April, the state board voted 3-2 along party lines to dismiss a separate ethics complaint against her brought by watchdog Bob Hall, which had accused her of authoritarian leadership and political bias tied to a February dispute with Angie Amaro over early voting materials. In August and September, Devore and Grimes clashed repeatedly before the state board over early voting site selection, with Devore proposing to eliminate the Spring Lake site to save $35,000 and Grimes arguing the closure would disenfranchise voters in northern Cumberland County, according to Up and Coming Weekly. Hoodline has previously reported on a related campaign finance complaint against board member Bree Eldridge that Devore also publicly defended.
For now, Grimes remains on the board while the state decides her fate. Speaking Friday, she said she hoped to remain on the Cumberland County Board of Elections even as the case hangs over the panel's work managing county voting operations through the midterms and beyond.
