North Carolina May Disenfranchise Voters Targeted by GOP Scheme To Steal Election
In a clear intimidation tactic, the Republican-controlled North Carolina Board of Elections recently sent letters to 82,000 validly registered voters and asked them for identifying information. The board warned that their votes might not count, if they don’t provide it.
Many of these voters were targeted last year by failed judicial candidate Jefferson Griffin, who asked courts to toss out their ballots simply because their registrations were incomplete. These voters’ registrations didn’t include the required driver’s license or social security numbers. While a federal judge put a stop to the attempted election theft in May, he also acknowledged the problem with incomplete registrations.
The board’s move is just the latest effort by Republicans in the Tar Heel State to impose new barriers to voting in the months since the GOP gained control of the state’s elections. And with next year’s midterms fast approaching, it could offer a preview of the kind of schemes we’ll soon see across the country.
For many, providing proper identification isn’t easy. Voters — especially those in rural areas — often face barriers such as cost and lack of access to government officers. North Carolina’s DMV offices are notoriously backed up and under-resourced. Additionally, at the time most of these voters registered in North Carolina, state law didn’t require them to provide photo ID.
This maneuver by the Republican Party could disenfranchise thousands of voters as we head into the midterm elections. The board’s letter warns that if the identification information isn’t updated, the voter may have to cast a provisional ballot.
To have their provisional ballots counted, voters must jump through additional hoops after visiting their polling place.
If the voters fail to cure their provisional ballots, their vote will still count in federal elections, such as the U.S. Senate race next year, however, they wouldn’t count in state or local races.
This maneuver by the Republican Party could disenfranchise thousands of voters as we head into the midterm elections.
In every recent general election, thousands of North Carolina voters ultimately didn’t have their provisional ballots counted. This could make all the difference in close races with razor-thin margins, such as last year’s state supreme court election.
Jeff Carmon, a Democratic member of the elections board, raised concerns about putting the burden on citizens to address election administrators’ failure to collect the information. Carmon noted that there’s no evidence of voter fraud.
Republicans and the U.S. Department of Justice have also sued North Carolina over the incomplete registrations, and election officials have said the process of fixing the registrations could be part of a settlement. As Democracy Docket noted at the time, the DOJ’s lawsuit appears to be part of a pattern of “suing” Republican state officials who agree with the goals of the lawsuit. Then the GOP officials can settle the “lawsuit” and implement the policy that both parties want.
Sam Hayes, the head of the elections board and a former GOP legislative aide, has denied that any of these voters will be purged from the rolls, but the DOJ’s lawsuit is unclear on whether it demands a massive purge. The Republican National Committee’s initial lawsuit, filed before last year’s election, sought to have nearly a quarter of a million voters taken off the rolls.
Justice Allison Riggs, whose victory was nearly stolen by election theft, recently testified before Congress and noted that her father was one of the voters who didn’t have the required number. “My father registered using his retired military ID, an eligible form of photo identification that does not have a driver’s license number or Social Security number on it. After registering, he also showed a valid picture ID every time he voted,” Riggs said. “In an attempt to selectively overturn the results of an election that disgruntled partisans and disappointed politicians disagreed with, my father and these voters nearly lost their fundamental right to vote.”
Riggs warned that her election may not be the last time that a losing candidate tries to steal. And if that happens, the North Carolina elections board will play a crucial role. Republicans recently wrested control of the board away from the governor, and the state supreme court allowed the law to go into effect, departing from precedents that protected executive power.
Voting rights groups are worried about what the new board and the newly Republican-controlled local boards will do. In order to protect free and fair elections, voting rights activists are mobilizing people to appear at their local elections board hearings and speak out in favor of easy access to early voting. The last time the GOP controlled election boards, many of them slashed early voting after the head of the state party demanded it. Then the head of the state GOP bragged about suppressing the Black vote. We may be heading into a very similar, dark place.
Billy Corriher is the state courts manager for People’s Parity Project and a longtime advocate for fair courts and progressive judges. As a Democracy Docket contributor, Billy writes about voting and election state court cases in North Carolina and across the country.