Luke Eggers, Republican chairman of the Watauga County Board of Elections, has been surrounded by extensive press attention over the past month.
Talks of voter suppression in the county were followed up by speculation that Eggers had violated his oath by consulting with Watauga County Republican Party Chairwoman Amanda Marie Yates about the voting plan because her brother is running for office, according to WRAL.
Eggers was able to omit key details from the minutes of that meeting in August, but this time, he might not be so lucky.
According to the Winston-Salem Journal, “digital thumbprints left on resolutions approved along party lines by the Republican-controlled Watauga County Board of Elections show that the ‘author’ of those resolutions is not the county elections director or board members.”
Curiously, the author of the resolutions is actually the brother of Luke Eggers and county attorney, Stacy Clyde Eggers IV, also known as Four Eggers.
The county Board of Elections has been far from perfect so far, but this crosses the line.
Not only does Four Eggers bring a bias to the table as Luke Eggers’ brother, but questions also arise about how someone could act as both a neutral adviser to the board and also a personal adviser to the board chairman.
Can he do both jobs in good conscience?
Considering it took the discovery of digital thumbprints on resolutions for this information to come out, it appears that Luke Eggers himself didn’t want to see this news making headlines. In this sense, it seems that he knows what was going on was wrong.
In June, the N.C. State Board of Elections did not consider appointing Four Eggers to the county elections board, despite the fact that the state Republican Party put his name down as their No. 1 choice.
It seems, however, that the move makes no difference. His voice is still coming through loud and clear, whether that’s ethical or not.
Stella Anderson, a Democrat and former chairwoman of the elections board, said Four Eggers can’t act as Luke Eggers’ brother, friend or adviser without “simultaneously acknowledging that he’s always acting as county attorney,” according to the Winston Salem Journal.
Luke Eggers has been unavailable for comment on who wrote the resolutions, making things look worse for him.
When controversy surrounds Luke Eggers, he seems to disappear from public view. He was not available for comment after the alleged consultation of Yates in August either.
With these disturbing new developments, it seems that if you want to hear something from Luke Eggers, you must address the one truly pulling his puppet strings behind the scenes.
Direct your questions about policy and county happenings to Four Eggers. He is, after all, heavily involved, as we see now.
There is nothing like brotherly love, but it doesn’t have a place in local government.
Story: CORY SPIERS, Opinion editor