Tommy Pharo Sat On The Lenoir County Board Of Elections. [Lenoir County Board of Elections, accessed 7/22/24]

Tommy Pharo Was A Republican. [North Carolina State Board of Elections County Board of Elections Members List, updated 11/1/23]

PHARO OPPOSED THE STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS’ GUIDANCE ON BALLOT CURING, PUSHING TO NOTIFY THE VOTER AS TO WHAT WAS INCORRECT ON THEIR ORIGINAL BALLOT

Tommy Pharo Voted Against The Board Of Elections’ Resolution On Counting Absentee Ballots, Instead Pushing For A Cure Process That Notified Voters Of The Issues With Their Ballots. [Lenoir County Board of Elections Meeting Minutes, 9/29/20]

PHARO QUESTIONED CONFLICTS OF INTEREST BETWEEN BOARD MEMBER PATTERSON AND THE NAACP AFTER IT SUED THE ELECTIONS BOARD

Tommy Pharo Opposed Having The Lenoir Elections Director Seek Legal Counsel Regarding A Lawsuit From The NAACP And Questioned The Integrity Of Taking Any Action While Board Member Patterson Was Also An NAACP Board Member. [Lenoir County Board of Elections Meeting Minutes, 5/7/20]

PHARO OPPOSED FUNDING SIX EARLY VOTING SITES, PUSHING FOR FOUR INSTEAD

June 2020: Tommy Pharo Voted Against A Motion For Six Early Voting Sites, Pushing Instead For Four. [Lenoir County Board of Elections Meeting Minutes, 6/4/20]

April 2020: Tommy Pharo Voted Against A Budget With Money For Six Early Voting Sites. [Lenoir County Board of Elections Meeting Minutes, 4/2/20]

2014: PHARO VOTED TO REDUCE ONE-STOP VOTING HOURS – ALLEGEDLY AT THE BEHEST OF STATE REPUBLICANS

2014: Tommy Pharo Voted To Reduce Lenoir County’s One-Stop Voting Hours. “In Tuesday's Lenoir County Board of Elections meeting, the three board members -- Lucinda Minges, Courtney Patterson and chairman Tommy Pharo -- had to make a decision on reducing hours for one-stop voting in elections for November. While Minges and Pharo agreed to reduce the vote, Patterson opposed, preventing the law from being enacted. A unanimous vote was needed to pass it. Patterson said the initial decision by the North Carolina General Assembly was what he stood pat with.” [Free Press, 2/23/14]

• Tommy Pharo: “We're Not Trying To Disenfranchise Anyone And Prevent People From Voting. We Need To Be Good Stewards Of The Citizens' Money And Follow Law, But Also Be Realistic.” “Pharo said Lenoir County has one of the most one-stop hours available in the state. ‘We use the sixth-most hours in the state of North Carolina when it comes to one-stop voting,’ Pharo said. ‘If we reduce it, we're down to No. 77. We tried to make the decision on facts and figures and gave eight examples of counties with comparable populations. In Columbus County, they're open for 322.5 hours, and on the lower end, Stanly County is at 106.5. On the high end, we're 25 to 30 percent higher and on the low end, we have four times the amount of hours. My thing is, why are we spending up to $25,000 of taxpayer money for this?’ Pharo continued, ‘We're not trying to disenfranchise anyone and prevent people from voting. We need to be good stewards of the citizens' money and follow law, but also be realistic. There's a chance we may have to keep polls open from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. and we have to have people, two assistant chief judges, equipment and find places -- some who may ask us to pay.’ Pharo said he didn't agree with Patterson's decision, but had no hard feelings about it. ‘We have different opinions, but I have the utmost respect for Courtney Patterson,’ Pharo said. ‘We're going to do what we have to do to have the polls open for the citizens.’” [Free Press, 2/23/14]

Tommy Pharo Allegedly Followed A Directive From The N.C. Republican Party To Reduce Early Voting. “The Democrat, Courtney Patterson, told the state board in a letter that his GOP counterparts were following the directive from the N.C. Republican Party to reduce early voting. ‘One of my fellow board members informed me that the two Republican members of the board had been given an agenda from the North Carolina Republican Party that he felt bound to follow, and he hoped I would not take offense at the position he intended to take to comply with that agenda,’ Patterson wrote. He added that the only person who spoke in favor of less early voting during the board's meeting was John Nix. Nix is chairman of the Lenoir County GOP, and his wife Michele is vice-chairwoman of the NCGOP. Neither of the Republican board members, Lucinda Minges and Tommy Pharo, returned phone calls Tuesday seeking comment.” [News & Observer, 9/6/16]

PHARO ASSURED VOTERS AFTER CORRUPTED FLASH DRIVES CAUSED A DISCREPANCY IN THE ELECTION RESULTS

2018: Corrupted Flash Drives Caused An 869-Vote Discrepancy In Lenoir County’s Election Results. “Lenoir County officials discovered problems with their numbers Tuesday night, delaying the final count in races there. The problem: Three corrupted flash drives that caused an 869-vote discrepancy, according to county Board of Elections Chairman Tommy Pharo. Two officials from the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement went to Kinston to work the problem Wednesday, Pharo said, and pulled totals from paper backups. The county will also have a bipartisan team do some hand counting to double-check final results, he said.” [WRAL, 11/7/18]

Tommy Pharo: “Rest Assured The Citizens Of Lenoir County, Anybody That Voted, Your Vote Was Counted. They Are On The Website. Right Now, Everything Is Up There.” “Officials said  869 votes went missing, but they were able to retrieve them using the internal memory on the voting tablets. ‘Rest assured the citizens of Lenoir County, anybody that voted, your vote was counted,’ said Tommy Pharo, chairman of the Lenoir County Board of Elections. ‘They are on the website. Right now, everything is up there.’ Lenoir County election officials said they worked to keep Democratic and Republican party chairs updated, but Lenoir County Board of Commissioners chairman Craig Hill said he felt left in the dark.” [WNCT, 11/7/18]