Sheriff candidate's campaign manager steps aside after video released

Published: Oct. 31, 2014 at 5:33 PM EDT|Updated: Nov. 30, 2014 at 8:33 PM EST
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CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - Mecklenburg County Sheriff Candidate Irwin Carmichael's campaign manager Greg Amick has stepped aside. Amick is the center of a video released where he can be seen telling a person, who was posing as a non-citizen, it was alright for them to vote.

Amick has argued the video was edited and is misleading. He responded on Twitter by writing "A just election is sacred. I would never disrespect that." He goes on to write that "the video was edited, misleading and omitted some of my response."

The video was produced by Project Veritas. James O'Keefe is behind the project.

"It appears as though he was breaking the law," O'Keefe said, "With the advice he gave."

Amick talked to Carmichael about the video.

"He tells them to go talk to one of the poll workers with the board of elections," Carmichael said. "That did not make it into the video."

"Project Veritas stands by our report," O'Keefe said, "And if Greg Amick wants to call what I do misleading, then perhaps I will release another story on him to show that, in fact, nothing was taken out of context."

The Director of the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections, Michael Dickerson, said the state notified him about the possibility of non-citizens being able to vote in North Carolina.

"It is a very serious matter," Dickerson said. "The integrity of the elections is what's at stake here for us."

There are about 1,400 non-citizens who have possibly received a voter registration card. Out of that number, about 300 live in Mecklenburg County. The state will offer a plan to make sure those non citizens don't vote come Election Day.

"They plan on having that to us within hopefully by Tuesday," Dickerson said. "So we know how to handle it, but they are on top of it down in Raleigh."

In the meantime Carmichael is now warning all his campaign workers what to do so this will not happen again.

"I have told all of our volunteers," Carmichael said. "They are to refer everybody to a board of election employee."

The video has prompted the NCGOP to file a complaint with the State Board of Elections and the North Carolina Attorney General.

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