Civil and electoral groups drafted by Republicans from North Carolina on Monday and blew expected Senate electoral bills this week, labeling them as yet another attempt by the GOP to suppress voters, especially minority groups.
Senate GOP leaders are pushing three actions, one of which would require postal ballot papers to be received in the mail or submitted by election day to be counted. Current law provides a three-day grace period for envelopes postmarked on the day of the area code or general election. A court agreement extended the deadline for the 2020 elections to nine days.
“These bills are not about the integrity of the elections and they are not about transparency,” said Manny Mejia of Democracy North Carolina at a press conference in front of the legislative building. “It’s about controlling who has the right to vote by repeating tactics that have disenfranchised voters in the past.”
Another GOP measure prohibits the acceptance of private funds to conduct elections, while the other is developing broader online voter registration options and promising to fund a program to obtain photo IDs for those who lack them. A voter ID request approved in 2018 remains on hold as litigation continues.
GOP Senators say moving the date for ballot acceptance will increase voter confidence in the election results and likely shorten the time the news media can call out races for a candidate. However, Senate Democrats and critics of Monday’s event said it would only add to frustration as voters would not know exactly when to send their ballot envelope for the U.S. mail in order to get it on time.
According to the state election committee, more than 11,600 ballot papers received in the first three days after election day 2020 were counted lawfully. The results are still not announced by county and state officials until later in the month of each election.
“Throwing away thousands and thousands of legitimate votes won’t make the election final sooner,” said Allison Riggs of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and the lead attorney in a pending identity process. She calls the bills just another attempt by the GOP-controlled General Assembly in the past decade to “prevent free and fair elections”. Republicans disagree, saying that North Carolina voting rules allow plenty of time to vote early in person or by mail, and that voters would make adjustments to ensure their votes are cast sooner.
Republicans in state legislatures have tabled numerous election-related actions this year, some of which stem from unsubstantiated claims by former President Donald Trump and his allies contesting the results of the presidential election. The North Carolina Senate Republicans have not directly quoted such claims.
The move would have to pass the Senate and House of Representatives before it gets to the desk of Democratic Governor Roy Cooper, a strong advocate for voting rights. Danielle Brown with Black Voters Matter mentioned how the Democrats in the Texan legislature stepped out two weeks ago to derail, at least temporarily, GOP electoral legislation. In North Carolina, Brown said, “We’re asking our people to do the same.”
The proposed charitable donation ban comes as the state and nearly all of the county’s electoral boards benefited from millions of dollars from nonprofit groups for the 2020 election. Republicans say such donations can raise questions of undue influence in elections. Monday speakers said the option should not be ruled out if funding from the election administration is insufficient.
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