The court case against Joseph Thomas Alligood Sr. — involving charges stemming from an incident at the Beaufort County Board of Elections on Nov. 2 — has been continued to Jan. 5, 2017.

Alligood, 74, of 1330 Mill Hole Road, Washington, was served a misdemeanor criminal summons Nov. 4. He is charged with interfering with an elections and second-degree criminal trespass.

At a hearing Thursday in Beaufort County District Court, Judge Michael Paul agreed to continue the case. It was not immediately clear if Alligood has a lawyer or who that lawyer might be.

The summons charges that Alligood “did interfere with the performance of any duty imposed by law upon of an election officer, Scott Sheppard, and Anita Branch by representing he was present to vote knowingly he had previously voted.” That action, according to the summons, violates General Statue 163-274 (A)(3). Violation of that statute is a Class 2 misdemeanor. The statute reads that it “shall be unlawful … for any person to break up or by force or violence to stay or interfere with the holding of any primary or election, to interfere with the possession of any ballot box, election book, ballot, or return sheet by those entitled to possession of the same under the law, or to interfere in any manner with the performance of any duty imposed by law upon any election officer or member of any board of elections.”

The trespassing charge stems from Alligood’s refusal to leave the board’s office after being notified “not to enter or remain there” by Kellie Harris Hopkins, the county’s elections director, according to the summons.

In a Nov. 4 interview, Alligood said he wanted to “test” the system by attempting to vote twice. He denies threatening elections officials. “If that lady had handed me the ballot, that’s when I was going to say something, because I didn’t intend to vote the second time. I was testing the system,” he said.

Upon advice of the state board, Beaufort County elections officials are not commenting on the incident at this time.