Text messages obtained by BPR show a Jackson County GOP leader accusing the North Carolina Republican Party and state auditor’s office of trying to “strong arm” county election officials over an early voting site at Western Carolina University.
“We also want you to know that we did not like the NCGOP or the auditor’s office trying to strong arm you guys,” Jackson County GOP Chairman Justin Castle wrote in a text sent to Jackson County Board of Elections member Jay Pavey and former board Secretary Wes Hanemayer.
But later in the same message, Castle appeared to contradict that claim.
"This was by no means impacted by the NCGOP or the auditor’s office,” Castle wrote. “Yes, we have tasked you with a responsibility by being on the Board of Election, but you are also our representatives on that board and we would like for you all to hold that commitment that you guys had promised up at your nominations.”
The North Carolina Office of the State Auditor appoints members to the State Board of Elections and Chairs of County Boards of Elections. The Governor previously held that responsibility until Senate Bill 382.
The text, which was obtained by BPR through Pavey, details a dispute over an early voting site at WCU’s Health and Human Services building for November’s election.
In the text, Castle thanked Pavey and Hanemayer for meeting with the county GOP executive committee to go over why they planned to support an early voting site at the university.
Castle argued that voters would be better served by keeping an early voting site at the Jackson County Recreation Center in Cullowhee.
“Changing locations would disrupt many longtime voters,” Castle wrote. “The Rec Center is a county building that, not only us as a board but other voters as well, can quickly call a commissioner to get things taken care of, if need be, versus having to deal with the bureaucracy of WCU.”
READ MORE HERE: Jackson County may close WCU’s early voting site. The state will make the final decision
Hanemayer resigned from the board on May 26. That’s according to an email obtained by Adam Wagner from the NC Newsroom. Hanemayer could not be reached by BPR for comment.
The News & Observer previously reported Hanemayer said in a resignation letter that his “moral position” had been called into question by unnamed entities outside the board.
The state auditor's office did not directly address BPR’s questions about the allegations of pressure. A spokesperson said the office has regular communication with local board chairs.
“There had been concern expressed over the elimination of the rec center site, which has been used for nearly 20 years, and has been one of the most utilized sites in the county,” the spokesperson said. “Ultimately, these decisions are made by local boards and the State Board.”
BPR reached out to officials from the Jackson County GOP but did not hear back by publication deadline.
Pavey told BPR that he and Hanemayer met with local GOP leaders after showing Castle the board’s proposed early voting locations.
“We had all of our facts with figures, numbers,” Pavey said. “ We've been crunching this stuff for months.”
Pavey said he was surprised by the pushback.
“When I cast my vote I told everybody very clearly: This vote is not for a party and it's not against a party. It is for the residents of Jackson County,” Pavey told BPR on June 5. “My oath was to the residents of Jackson County to carry out my duties in the most unbiased way possible and in the most nonpartisan way possible.”
GOP election officials describe outside pressure
As first reported by NC Newsline, the dispute comes after Pavey voted June 2 in favor of an early voting site at Western Carolina University's Health and Human Services Building.
Pavey says he was indirectly told that he and Hanemayer could be removed from the board if they did not vote against the university site.
“He said there was an individual out of Raleigh, out of one of the offices up there, who had said that if me and Wes didn't vote the way they wanted us to, that they would do everything in their power to have us removed from the board,” Pavey said, referring to a conversation with Castle.
Pavey said that Castle did not threaten him but instead was relaying what he had heard indirectly from “higher ups.”
During the June 2 meeting of the Jackson County Board of Elections, Republican Board Chair Bill Thompson echoed similar sentiments. He cast the only vote against the WCU site.
“I am the lone hold out and it's pressure from above,” Thompson said.
Thompson could not be reached by the time of publication.
Pavey said the board has been developing its November early voting plan since the primary.
“Every election is different,” Pavey said. “So in every election, we have to come forward and meet and establish a voting plan for that particular election. So a voting plan for say the primary would be probably very different from a voting plan for the midterm or the general election.”
For November, he said he supported the Health and Human Services Building because of space limitations at the recreation center.
“Ultimately the university said, ‘Well, how about we open up the Health and Human Services Building for you?’ And it's a great location,” Pavey said. “And so, for us picking that – at least me voting for that – it was not because I was trying to get anything on campus. I was looking for what was the best site for the residents of Jackson County, specifically in the Cullowhee district.”
In an email to BPR, a spokesperson from the State Board of Elections said they are aware of the situation that’s happening in Jackson County.
“Employees of the State Board of Elections do not encourage county boards of elections to vote a certain way on their early voting plans or any other matter that comes before county boards,” the spokesperson said. “The process by which early voting plans are adopted remains the same. The county boards of elections vote on a plan. If the county board vote is not unanimous, the State Board will adopt a plan for the county, per state law.”
Long-standing debates
In mid-January, the State Board of Elections voted 3-2 along party lines to close the early voting site on Western Carolina University’s campus for the 2026 primaries.
The decision landed in the hands of the state after the Jackson County Board of Elections voted in December of 2025 to remove the early voting site at WCU by a 3-2 vote.
Under state law, any county that does not approve its early voting plan unanimously must have that plan reviewed by the State Board of Elections.
The state board’s new Republican majority approved early voting plans in mid-January from 12 counties where county election boards could not reach unanimous agreement. WCU was one of four colleges that the BOE voted to eliminate as an early voting site.
The WCU precinct has been home to one of two early voting locations in Cullowhee since 2016 when a Republican majority approved a plan that placed a site on campus. It served as the polling place for more than 76,000 voters over five general elections and four primaries.
An analysis by Chris Cooper, a professor of political science and public affairs at WCU, shows that the campus site has served an average of 8,417 early voters per election. The voters are also more diverse and younger than the average Jackson County voter.
Since the vote was not unanimous it now moves to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, which can endorse the vote to have an early voting site at WCU, reverse the vote or implement its own plan, according to NC state law.
County boards must submit their early voting plan or competing plans to the State Board no later than July 24. The State Board will then meet in August to consider the plans.
NC Newsroom's Adam Wagner contributed to this report.
