Gerry Cohen, a member of the Wake County Board of Elections, said he cried in November 2024 when he heard family members testify about people who cast ballots before the general election but died before Election Day. Cohen, who spent decades as a top staffer in the state legislature, said Wednesday he cried again when it looked like the state Board of Elections might remove him and Greg Flynn from the Wake Board of Elections for their decision to count those dead voters’ ballots.