RALEIGH, N.C. – Gov. Bev Perdue today appointed all five members to the N.C. State Board of Elections, composed of three Democrats and two Republicans.

Perdue reappointed three members to the board: Democrats Larry Leake of Mars Hill, who currently serves as chairman, and Robert Cordle of Charlotte, along with Republican Charles Winfree of Greensboro.

New appointees were Democrat Anita Earls of Durham and Republican William Peaslee of Raleigh.

Earls is executive director and founder of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, a position she has held since September 2007. From 2003 to 2007, she was director of advocacy at the UNC Center for Civil Rights. Earls also served as deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Justice from 1998 to 2000. She received a law degree from Yale University and an undergraduate degree from Williams College.

Peaslee runs a general practice law firm in Cary. He served the N.C. Republican Party for five years, ending in 2006, as political director, special legal counsel and chief of staff. Peaslee received a law degree from Campbell University and an undergraduate degree from UNC-Chapel Hill.

The State Board of Elections supervises and regulates primary and general elections in North Carolina. Members serve four-year terms. State law requires the governor to appoint members from a list of nominees submitted by the state party chairs.