‘Don’t let them have a vote’: Text messages about WCU polling site from auditor’s office staff to Jackson County Board of Elections chair

The Jackson County Board of Elections voted on June 2 for an early voting plan which would move a polling location to the Health and Human Sciences Building on WCU's campus. Republican Chair Bill Thompson was the only vote against the plan. The decision will now be made by the NCSBE. Credit: Lilly Knoepp/NC Local

by Lilly Knoepp
July 2, 2026

Messages obtained by NC Local from an auditor’s office staff member to the Jackson County Board of Elections chair show a directive to halt the local board’s June 2nd vote on whether to move a polling location on Western Carolina University’s campus.

Dallas Woodhouse, who serves as auditor’s election liaison to the local and state board of elections, sent Jackson County Board of Elections Chair Bill Thompson several messages obtained by NC Local through a public records request. The texts discussed the location of an early voting site as well as an open position of the Jackson County Board after Republican board member Wes Hanemayer resigned.

“Don’t let them have a vote,” a message sent from Woodhouse to Thompson on June 2 at 9:48 a.m. read.



The board did vote later that morning, with Thompson as the lone opposition to a plan to move the voting site to the Health and Human Sciences building on campus.

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More:
https://nclocal.org/2026/07/02/elections-liaison-dallas-woodhouse-instructs-board-chair-not-to-hold-vote-on-campus-polling-site/

Watch a breakdown by BullCityAnna of Indivisible here on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DaTGTLsO1zp/

Summary: Dallas Woodhouse, former NC GOP leader tied to the 2019 election fraud scandal, now oversees county election boards amid ongoing GOP efforts to shift control of North Carolina’s election administration from the governor to the state auditor