Robeson County candidate alleges vote-buying scheme by commissioner
A recent challenger for a Robeson County Board of Commissioners seat claims in court documents that a sitting commissioner tilted the election by buying votes for the incumbent.
Lacy Cummings was challenging Commissioner Judy Sampson in the March Democratic primary. Sampson prevailed in the primary, winning 875-to-870.
But Sampson was only able to win, Cummings alleges, because another sitting Robeson commissioner, Wixie Stephens, paid people to vote for Sampson.
Cummings made the allegations this week in a petition against members of the Robeson County Board of Elections and State Board of Elections. The petition, filed this week in Wake County court, comes less than two weeks after other protests by Cummings were dismissed by county and state election officials due to lack of evidence.
Stephens and Sampson didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Cummings says he’s amassed a pile of sworn statements from voters who say Stephens paid them to vote for Sampson.
The petition is the latest step in the appeal process. It asks the court to set the election results aside, allow Cummings to air his allegations, and find Stephens and Sampson guilty of “felonious fraudulent activity.”
In nine affidavits filed with the petition, a variety of voters in the district say they were given money by Stephens via mobile payment app, check or debt forgiveness to vote for Sampson and to recruit or transport others to vote for her.
One voter said in an affidavit that Stephens drove her to the polls, gave her money, bought her food, and promised to bail her out of jail free in the future. Stephens owns a bail-bonding business.
Another voter said the commissioner offered him money and tried unsuccessfully to convince him to use his twin brother’s ID to satisfy voter identification requirements.
“While these testimonials were not available to Cummings at his Initial Protest filing March 15,” the petition says, “those that have come forward since and that continue to come forward shock the conscience.”
The allegations involve a sufficient number of votes to change the outcome of the contest, Cummings claims in the petition.
State Board of Elections counsel Paul Cox said the board's state attorneys "will review and respond to the arguments made in the appeal to superior court."
The initial hearing in the case is scheduled for March 22, but Cummings's attorney Michael Porter says the actual arguments will likely take place later.
"Although the amounts of money that changed hands were small," Porter told WRAL, "the result was a bought and paid for election, which is a threat to our democracy."
