Candidates for town board must reside full-time inside town limits
An official challenge has been submitted regarding a candidate for the Town of Highlands Board of Commissioners’ residency status.
On Wednesday, the North Carolina State Board of Elections appointed a five-person panel to review the challenge and determine if Overton Tucker Chambers is eligible to remain a candidate for town board.
The panel will consist of Macon County Board of Elections members Kathy Tinsley, Gary Dills, Jeffrey Gillette and John VanHook as well as Jackson County Board of Elections Member Kirk Stephens.
“All of the five members of the panel are experienced board of elections officials and they understand when they are sworn in that candidate challenges are part of their duties,” NCSBE Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell said. “We have full confidence they will administer the statutes regarding candidate eligibility fairly as they have been trained to do.”
On Aug. 3, the Macon County Board of Elections received an official candidate challenge submitted by Derek Taylor, representing Highlanders for Good Government. The group is a local political action committee that focuses on voter education and election engagement, according to its website.
In the official challenge, Taylor notes that Chambers’ residential address prior to the 2023 municipal election cycle has been on Hedden Lane in the Flat Mountain community, which is not within Highlands town limits. On his election filing paperwork, Chambers listed his address as 401 N. 5th Street, which is the location of Chambers Realty and Vacation Rentals.
In order to run for the Highlands Board of Commissioners a candidate must be a full-time resident within the Highlands town limits for at least 30 days prior to filing for office.
“Mr. Chambers has expressed to me several times that he only needed to be in town part-time to qualify,” Taylor’s challenge reads. “An indication that he was not a full-time resident within the city limits of Highlands.”
Taylor’s challenge also notes that Chambers changed his address less than an hour before the candidate filing period ended, that Chambers’ wife’s address is still listed as the Flat Mountain residence, Chambers’ business address is what is listed on his filing form, the Flat Mountain home is not listed for sale, and that the 401 N. 5th Street address is not currently owned by the candidate.
Taylor attached Macon County Tax Department parcel maps showing Chambers as the owner of the Hedden Lane property on Flat Mountain, but not the N. 5th Street property. The listed owners of the N. 5th Street property are Isabell and Overton Chambers Jr.
“Highlanders for Good Government concerns itself with fairness and honesty for all candidates and the election process for our local governmental offices,” Taylor said in a statement. “Integrity in the election process is crucial to our democracy. Although Mr. Chambers has been a longtime member and contributor to the community at large, we felt that there were legitimate questions concerning residency qualifications for Mr. Chambers running for the Highlands town board. Therefore, we filed a challenge with the Macon County Board of Elections.”
Once challenged, the burden is on the candidate to show by a preponderance of the evidence that he is qualified to be a candidate for the office:
If the challenge is based upon a question of residency, the candidate must show all of the following:
• An actual abandonment of the first domicile, coupled with an intent not to return to the first domicile;
• The acquisition of a new domicile by actual residence at another place; and
• The intent of making the newer domicile a permanent domicile
The hearing to determine Chambers’ candidate eligibility will take place at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 22 at the Macon County Courthouse in Franklin.
For more information about voting processes and procedures visit the Macon County Board of Elections website at www.maconnc.org/board-of-elections.