Breaking News: State Board of Elections grants appeal in challenge of Foster’s primary victory

Nearly three weeks after the Wayne County Board of Elections dismissed a protest from a group of Goldsboro residents who challenged Bevan Foster’s primary victory in the Democratic race for the Board of Commissioners District 3 seat, the State Board of Elections considered — and then granted — an appeal of the decision.

The vote to send the case back to Wayne County, where all the evidence will be heard by local elections officials, was unanimous.

Here is the history of the protest:

• The Wayne BOE decided in a split vote May 27 to take a more detailed look at an election protest filed by three Goldsboro residents who claim Foster’s victory in the March 3 primary for a seat on the county commission should be nullified because, they say, he does not live at his registered District 3 address. Members also voted unanimously to accept witness testimony only via sworn affidavit during a hearing set for June 10.

• At the May 27 meeting, seven emails questioning Foster’s legitimacy as a candidate and his residency and asking the board to take up the matter were read. One email in support of Foster’s candidacy was also read.

• According to the official complaint, which was filed by Linda Harper, Zachary Lilly and Joy Brown, Foster does not live at 610 Devereaux St. — but is a landlord. Muddying the water further are a series of public documents that have surfaced over the last several weeks that seemingly lend credence to the argument that, at the very least, the house on Devereaux is occupied by people other than the former Goldsboro City councilman and mayoral candidate.

Here’s what those documents show:

• When Foster ran for mayor last year, he listed his home address as 901 Pittman St., but after losing the election, he filed to run for a seat on the Board of Commissioners, this time using the Devereaux Street address.

• In January, another property owned by Foster, located at 612 Devereaux Street, caught fire. On the official incident report, Foster listed the Pittman Street address as his residence.

• A few weeks later, a complaint was emailed to city staff by a resident of 610 Devereaux, alleging that she expressed concern to her landlord — Foster — about the electrical system in the house, but that he ignored her concerns. The subject line of the email was “Rental property 610 Devereaux.”

• On May 15, Foster filed paperwork to evict two people from 610 Devereaux for, among other things, refusal to clean the property and failure to pay rent.

• June 10, the local board voted to dismiss the protest because two of the three protestors were not residents of District 3 — and therefore, ineligible to file a protest. Foster’s attorney successfully argued that a joint protest was not allowed under North Carolina elections law.

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