FROM STAFF REPORTS
The Iredell County Board of Elections on Friday dismissed a challenge to the voter registration of Iredell-Statesville Schools Board of Education member Abby Trent.
The challenge was brought by Jill Schooley, who claimed Trent had permanently vacated her residence and moved to another precinct.
The Elections Board ruled at a preliminary hearing on November 17 that Schooley had met the probable cause burden to hold a full evidentiary hearing on the matter.
But after hearing testimony from Trent and her mother, Angela Matthews, on Friday morning, theElections Board voted 4-0 to overturn the challenge. Board member Bob Crosswhite recused himself from the matter.
After the 60-minute hearing in the Iredell County Government Center, Trent said she was glad to put the matter to rest.
“I want to thank the members of the Board of Elections and the county staff who took time today to attend the voter eligibility challenge,” she said. “I was appreciative of the time I was given to present facts regarding my temporary residency situation. This is why it is important to listen to both sides before making decisions.
“My hope now is that we as a county can move forward and get back to addressing the needs of the children and the residents of Iredell County,” she added.
Trent testified that she moved temporarily from her home at 811 N. Mulberry Street in Statesville in late July after a contractor advised that the home had mold issues and that living in the house could be harmful to herself and her unborn child.
She provided documentation in the form of letters from the contractor, from her grandfather, who owns the home, in her defense.
Schooley claimed that Trent’s intent was to permanently move. She cited as evidence the fact that the home had been put up for sale and that she and her son, Micah Phelps, had driven by the home on Old Mountain Road and saw Trent’s vehicle was parked there late the night before the preliminary hearing. A photograph showing the vehicle, which was provided by I-SS Board member Mike Kubiniec, was also introduced as evidence.
Trent testified that her grandfather is in the early stages of dementia and mistakenly listed the property for sale with two other properties he owns. The real estate listing was terminated after Trent found out it was for sale. Her grandparents have since added her to the property deed.
Matthews corroborated Trent’s testimony about her grandfather, and said Trent always intended to returned to the Mulberry Street home
Trent claims that Kubiniec, Moms of Liberty members and others began harassing her in October after she voted with three other I-SS Board members to remove Kubiniec as vice chair. Kubiniec aslo faces a likely censure vote by the Board.
“I have been repeatedly stalked and harassed,” Trent told the Elections Board.
Phelps sent Matthews a text message warning her to prepare for “anarchy” after it became clear the I -SS Board would vote to oust Kubiniec as vice chair.
Trent is in the trimester of an at-risk pregnancy.
Kubiniec has been served with a summons to appear in court in January on a misdemeanor stalking charge after Trent made a sworn statement to a magistrate about his conduct.
Trent is also seeking a no contact order against Kubiniec and Phelps. A court hearing on that matter, which was scheduled for Thursday, was continued to December.
The hearing was attended by about two dozen people, including Moms for Liberty members and by Kubiniec and I-SS Board members Brian Sloan and Anita Kurn.
Kurn and Kubiniec raised questions about Trent’s eligibility to serve on the I-SS Board during its November meeting. If she permanently moved out of her district, they said, she shoulw be removed from the board.
Trent notified I-SS officials that she was temporarily moving in August. Kurn and Kubiniec, she said, did not raise the issue publicly until after Trent voted to remove Kubiniec from his position as vice chair.
