The head of the Surry County Board of Elections in North Carolina resigned after police say he was caught on camera drugging his step-granddaughter and her friend.
On August 3, Republican election official James Yokeley Jr. allegedly flagged down police officers at a gas station near a Dairy Queen in New Hanover County, North Carolina.
According to a report from local outlet NC Newsline, Yokeley claimed that the two teens had found hard objects inside their Dairy Queen Blizzards, a whipped ice cream treat. Police alleged that was not the case, however, after they saw surveillance footage from inside the restaurant.
‘I remain prayerfully confident that I will be exonerated of all accusations levied against me.’
“He can be seen placing something on the counter, and it’s pretty apparent that when the employees make the drinks, he’s trying to observe if anybody’s observing him,” Wilmington Police Lt. Greg Willett said in a press conference on Friday.
Willett said officers went to the Dairy Queen and asked for the in-store video, which Willett claimed “clearly shows Mr. Yokeley placing the pills in the ice cream.”
What was actually in the pills was perhaps more disturbing; police field tests showed that the small blue pills contained cocaine and MDMA. The girls did not ingest the drugs, though, police stated.
In a letter, Yokeley not only issued his resignation, but he also denied the allegations that have been levied against him.
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“I am writing to formally resign from my position as Board Chair,” Yokeley wrote in the letter.
He concluded that it was in the “best interest” of the state and local board but described the case as his “own falsely accused circumstances.”
“Based on the truth and facts, I remain prayerfully confident that I will be exonerated of all accusations levied against me.”
Sarah Whisenant, owner of the Dairy Queen in question, told WECT-TV that she did not recognize Yokeley or the two teenagers, but emphasized that her staff would never do such a thing.
“Thank goodness we had video,” Whisenant said.
Four employees were working at the Dairy Queen at the time.
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Photographer: Noah Berger/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The North Carolina State Board of Elections and Surry County Board of Elections said they are both “aware of the charges against Mr. Yokeley” and will “continue to collect information about the situation and will provide support to the Surry County board, as needed.”
Yokeley was appointed as the head of the Surry elections board in June 2025. He has been charged with two counts of felony contaminating food or drink with a controlled substance, felony child abuse, and felony possession of Schedule I narcotics.
In court, the 66-year-old reportedly waived his right for a court-appointed attorney and was told he was not allowed to have contact with the teenagers. According to a report from NBC10 Boston, he posted $100,000 bond.
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Republican, News, North carolina, Drugs, Mdma, Cocaine, Election official, Dairy queen, Ice cream, Politics