Just seven months after being appointed as part of the first five-member Sampson County Board of Elections, Emily C. DeVane has been nominated by the board as the next director of county elections. Her official hire is pending some red tape, but is ultimately a formality.

DeVane currently works in the finance department for Clinton City Schools and had served as a member of the Sampson County Board of Elections since March.

According to county officials, DeVane resigned her position on the Board of Elections immediately Wednesday upon her nomination as the new elections director, having previously recused herself from the interview process after deciding to apply for the director position.

DeVane’s official hire is pending the issuance of a letter of appointment by the executive director of the State Board of Elections, pursuant to state law. Assuming that concurrence is issued, DeVane will assume her new responsibilities on Oct. 21, at a salary of $46,380.

While the responsibility for selecting a nominee for appointment to fill a vacancy in the office of county director of elections rests with the Board of Elections itself, Elections Board Chairman Horace Bass expressed his appreciation to the county for their assistance in the process.

“We would like to thank the county for assisting with the position advertising and the coordination and scheduling of the candidate interviews,” he stated. “The Elections Board was pleased to receive 14 applications for the director position, and we chose to interview seven candidates, including Ms. DeVane, the board’s unanimous nomination.”

The Sampson County Board of Elections met last week and into the beginning of this week interviewing applicants for the county elections director position following the resignation of Ashley Tew in August. The county received 14 applications for the post and the board conducted interviews with seven of them.

“(Emily DeVane) recused herself from the process at the onset,” Sampson Human Resources director Nancy Dillman stated early Wednesday, when asked about the interview process, which was conducted by the other four board members, including Bass, G.H. Wilson, Danny Jackson and Quincy Edgerton.

The bulk of the interviews were conducted on Thursday of last week and continued on Monday and Tuesday. Deliberations took place Wednesday, after which DeVane was formally offered the job.

Tew resigned as the county’s Board of Elections director on Aug. 21, leaving the post after five and a half years. Administrative support specialist Emily Steffens has been handling the day-to-day duties ever since.

The Sampson County Board of Elections last month approved posting the vacant elections director position, which was deemed “open until filled.” Nearly four weeks later, the board announced DeVane as its new director.

Democrat Bass and Republicans Jackson and Edgerton previously made up the three-member election board. Wilson was added last year to round out the four-member iteration that split Democrat and Republican representation down the middle. The addition of Democrat DeVane in March made it five members, mirroring other county election boards.

DeVane applied to be on the board and was subsequently selected.

“I just want to make sure things are done fairly for the citizens of Sampson County,” she remarked back in March.

Now she takes the reins — and the responsibility for a fair and equitable elections process.

A county elections director is responsible for directing administrative work, planning, coordinating, directing and supervising federal, state, county, municipal and special election processes and staff under the direction of the Board of Elections. It requires a comprehensive knowledge of federal, state and local election and voting registration laws, regulations, procedures to ensure all election‐related activities adhere to state and related laws, county officials said.

County leaders are requiring a North Carolina Election Administrator certification within three years of employment.

DeVane will have to hit the ground running.

Early voting for Sampson’s municipal election begins in less than five weeks — extending from Oct. 16 to Nov. 1 — leading up to Election Day on Nov. 5. Board of Elections members have previously alluded to the possibility of utilizing previous staff or someone with elections experience to get them through November’s municipal election, something that still may come to fruition but remains to be seen.

In August, the county engaged state election leaders, bringing State Board of Elections executive director Karen Bell into the fold on closed-door personnel talks along with Dillman.

With a county elections director presumably in place, her Democrat replacement on the board will also have to be appointed.

DeVane
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_Devane-mug-2.jpgDeVane

During a March 2019 meeting, then-Sampson elections director Ashley Tew, right, shares a word with then-new Board of Elections member Emily DeVane. On Thursday, just seven months later, DeVane was named Tew’s successor.
https://www.clintonnc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/web1_election2-2.jpgDuring a March 2019 meeting, then-Sampson elections director Ashley Tew, right, shares a word with then-new Board of Elections member Emily DeVane. On Thursday, just seven months later, DeVane was named Tew’s successor.
Moves from board member to elections director

By Chris Berendt

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Editor Chris Berendt can be reached at 910-592-8137 ext. 2587.