Franklin, Webster, Bryson City and the Village of Forest Hills all have multiple seats up for election this year on their town boards, and each candidate running for those seats is doing so unopposed. 

It’s been more than a year since residency challenges were filed against six Democrats who registered to vote at a Graham County home that had burned down and then avoided the challenges by changing their registrations to Buncombe County; the North Carolina State Board of Elections still hasn’t announced the results of an investigation into the matter, even after three of the six re-registered in Graham County, just in time for the 2023 municipal election. 

A candidate for Maggie Valley alderman who dropped out and resigned her seat on the town’s zoning board when opponents filed a residency challenge is drawing further scrutiny after an investigation by The Smoky Mountain News revealed that she was not a resident of the town during most or all of her service on the zoning board of adjustment. 

Hardister seeks important labor post