In its first meeting Wednesday, the new Republican majority on the North Carolina State Board of Elections voted to replace the agency’s longtime director with a lawyer who worked for state Republican leaders.

Predictably, N.C. Auditor Dave Boliek has used his new appointment powers to transform the State Board of Elections into a more Republican body.

Meeting for the first time with its new GOP majority, the North Carolina State Board of Elections agreed in a party-line vote to replace Brinson Bell with Sam Hayes, the top lawyer for the Republican House speaker. The board declined to consider her request to speak at the end of the meeting, adjourning instead.