news July 13-19, 2022
Voter fraud allegations move forward in Lake Santeetlah
Lake Santeetlah Councilmember Diana Simon (left) speaks with her attorney, John Noor, before presenting voter challenges to the Graham County Board of Elections on July 7. Cory Vaillancourt photo BY CORY VAILLANCOURT POLITICS E DITOR n a preliminary hearing, the Graham County Board of Elections has found that there is probable cause to believe that eight people who registered to vote in the tiny municipality of Lake Santeetlah, including sitting councilmember Tina Emerson, do not actually reside at addresses they provided to elections officials. “This was the first step in the process, the preliminary hearing where the board looked at the evidence that my client presented to determine whether there was probable cause that the voters that are being challenged don’t reside within the county,” said John Noor, an Asheville attorney representing Lake Santeetlah Councilmember Diana Simon. “Today, the board decided that that probable cause was present, and we’ll soon be scheduling a hearing to determine whether they’re actually residents of Graham County or not.” The challenges came as the result of a most unusual municipal election on Nov. 2, 12 2021.
Smoky Mountain News
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Whereas previous elections saw fewer than 80 votes cast, the most recent election saw 130 and resulted in the ouster of three councilmembers, all of whom pushed for and ultimately completed updates to the lakeside resort town’s outdated zoning policies. Then-Mayor Jim Hager and incumbent Councilmember Simon retained council seats, but became a minority as Tina Emerson, Constance Gross and Ralph Mitchell all earned 14 votes — good enough for a majority of seats on the five-person council. Gross was nominated to serve as mayor, despite finishing far behind Simon’s 22 votes. On Feb. 15, at the behest of Emerson, the town reduced the room occupancy tax rate to zero — in essence defunding the Tourism Development Authority chaired by Simon. Emerson operates a short-term vacation rental at the lake. Since their election, the Emerson-GrossMitchell faction of the council has also cut lake water testing, slashed kudzu removal, defunded the zoning administrator and proposed abolishment of the town’s zoning code.
During a May 26 public meeting, residents overwhelmingly opposed the proposal. A community survey issued by the planning board in late 2019 as part of the comprehensive planning process asked residents to choose the town’s three greatest weaknesses. The survey received input from more than 50% of town residents. The greatest weakness, according to respondents, was Jack Gross — now-Mayor Constance Gross’ husband. Constance Gross and Tina Emerson also received votes, while no other person was mentioned by name. Simon filed election challenges at the time, but they were dismissed without consideration of the merits due to alleged paperwork and deadline errors. On June 1, Simon filed new challenges against eight voters, which resulted in the July 7 preliminary hearing in Robbinsville. Filing fraudulent voter challenges is a felony. At the outset of the preliminary hearing, which lasted more than three hours, Graham County BOE attorney Bill Cannon laid out the ground rules.
“If the evidence presented by the challenger is sufficient for a reasonable and prudent person to believe that the challenged voter is ineligible, it doesn’t mean your belief is necessarily correct, or [that] it’s more likely true than false — at this stage of a preliminary hearing, a probability of ineligibility is sufficient,” Cannon said. “And if you find probable cause to believe that the voter is ineligible, then you would schedule a full evidentiary hearing to hear all evidence that would be presented by the challenger and the voters.” Noor took the board through the eight separate challenges, one by one. The first six were lodged against Buncombe County veterinarian Dean Hutsell, his wife Linda and their four college-age daughters, Amelia, Kaylee, Olivia and Savannah. All six Hutsells registered to vote at Lake Santeetlah on Sept. 28, 2021, shortly before the Nov. 2 election, at a three-bedroom house owned by Dean and Linda. That house burned down in 2019, still hasn’t been rebuilt and still hasn’t received a certificate of occupancy from the county.
