Spokesman's role

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 16:08:10 -0400

Auditor Les Merritt's spokesman played a key role in briefly halting a voting bill, according to e-mails received under a public records request.

At 10:12 a.m. on June 5, Chris Mears forwarded a Dome item on a bill to allow North Carolinians to register to vote the weekend before an election to Merritt, Chief Deputy Kris Bailey, Executive Assistant James Forte and legal counsel Tim Hoegemeyer.

"If we want to have an impact on voter registration legislation, we should get Sen. Berger information sooner rather than later," he wrote. "This is a significant opportunity to safeguard our democracy that I don't think we should pass-up."

Merritt agreed, saying that "time will pass us by." In a reply sent at 10:17, he wrote, "We may need to speak even if our audit is not complete."

At 2:34 p.m., Merritt e-mailed Sen. Dan Clodfelter to ask him to pull the bill. Senate leaders agreed, but they put the bill back up for a vote after a hearing with Merritt. It passed and is now back in the House.