In its first meeting Wednesday, the new Republican majority on the North Carolina State Board of Elections voted to replace the agency’s longtime director with a lawyer who worked for state Republican leaders.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections ousted Elections Director Karen Brinson Bell after clinching a GOP majority for the first time in about 10 years. Brinson Bell, who had served in the position since 2019,

Meeting for the first time with its new GOP majority, the North Carolina State Board of Elections agreed in a party-line vote to replace Brinson Bell with Sam Hayes, the top lawyer for the Republican House speaker. The board declined to consider her request to speak at the end of the meeting, adjourning instead.