A highly significant and closely watched political battle is unfolding in North Carolina regarding voting rights and elections. Democrats are determined to recapture the state’s status as a presidential battleground, while Republicans are aiming to regain control of the governor’s office. Similar to Georgia, Florida, and Texas, North Carolina is poised for heated confrontations regarding various aspects of the electoral process.
In the Republican-led legislature, the State House is currently reviewing two bills passed by the Senate that would drastically change election procedures by imposing voting restrictions and essentially weakening the state elections board, which is currently under the control of Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat. Additionally, in an impending clash over redistricting, the newly conservative State Supreme Court has ordered lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional and state legislative maps, which will likely favor Republicans.
Every slight advantage holds great significance in North Carolina. Despite a series of Republican victories in past presidential elections (interrupted only by Barack Obama’s triumph in 2008), the state has become increasingly competitive. In 2020, Donald J. Trump narrowly won by a little over one percentage point, and President Biden’s allies have indicated their intention to invest in the state for the 2024 election, recognizing its potential for victory. Mr. Trump, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, and other Republican candidates have already made appearances in North Carolina as they vie for their party’s nomination.
Wendy Weiser, the vice president for democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice, commented on the situation, stating that North Carolina possesses the two key factors exacerbating Republican attempts to gain more control over voting and elections. She emphasized that the state is both a battleground and has a history of voting discrimination, making it one of the most critical states to be concerned about.
The political landscape in North Carolina has undergone seismic shifts, allowing Republicans to take the offensive. They now hold veto-proof legislative majorities following the defection of a Democratic representative to the Republican party in April. Consequently, Governor Cooper’s ability to impede their actions is limited. Moreover, conservatives won a majority on the State Supreme Court in the previous year’s elections, shifting its balance from a 4-to-3 liberal lean to a 5-to-2 conservative advantage.
Behind the scenes, a network of right-wing activists and election deniers, led by lawyer Cleta Mitchell, who played a crucial role in efforts by Mr. Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election, has been meeting with North Carolina lawmakers, influencing decisions and shaping certain provisions.
Republicans across the country continue to introduce measures aimed at tightening voting laws, citing the need to protect “election integrity” and capitalizing on concerns about election fraud fueled by Trump’s rhetoric. According to the Brennan Center, at least 11 states have passed 13 laws adding restrictions to voting this year, which is slightly less than in 2021, when Republican-led legislatures swiftly enacted a series of voting laws in response to false claims made by Trump and his supporters.
North Carolina has a troubled past when it comes to voting rights. As a result of its history of racially discriminatory election practices, certain parts of the state were required to obtain federal approval under the Voting Rights Act to make changes to voting laws. More recently, in 2016, a federal court invalidated a voter identification law led by Republicans, ruling that it disproportionately targeted “African Americans with almost surgical precision.”
Republicans have offered justifications for their proposed measures. State Senator Warren Daniel, one of the primary sponsors of the bill to change voting laws, argued on the Senate floor that the measure would enhance confidence and transparency in elections. He also claimed that certain changes, such as a provision requiring all absentee ballots to be received before polls close on Election Day, would align North Carolina with many other states.
However, Democrats have strongly opposed these voting proposals. State Senator Natasha Marcus went so far as to label them as “voter suppression” on a grand scale. During the bill’s final debate, she warned that it included many problematic provisions that would deter people from voting, invalidate ballots, and suppress the votes of certain individuals in a discriminatory and undemocratic manner.
One critical provision of the bill aims to effectively eliminate same-day voter registration, replacing it with a system where voters cast provisional ballots and are subsequently required to verify their identities. The bill only accepts specific forms of identification, and data from the State Board of Elections reveals that in the four general elections since 2016, over 36% of voters who used same-day registration provided IDs that would not be acceptable under the new law. In 2016, a Federal District Court found that African American voters disproportionately utilized same-day registration, constituting 35% of same-day registrants while representing only 22% of the electorate.
The legislation also complicates mail voting by introducing a requirement for signature verification and a unique “two-factor” authentication process specific to North Carolina. This has left voting experts puzzled as to how the process would function. Similar to other states, a larger proportion of Democrats now vote by mail in North Carolina due to widespread Republican distrust of the practice instilled by Trump and his allies. In the 2022 midterm elections, over 157,000 people in the state voted by mail, with 45% of them being Democrats and 35% independents.
Republican lawmakers sought external assistance in crafting the legislation. In May, three GOP lawmakers, including Senator Warren Daniel, met with Cleta Mitchell, the lawyer aligned with Trump, and Jim Womack, a leader of the North Carolina Election Integrity Teams. This organization is part of a nationwide network of right-wing election activists, partly coordinated by Mitchell. In a video summarizing the meeting obtained by Documented, a liberal investigative group, Womack discussed various changes to election laws, including provisions on same-day registration, absentee ballots, and voter list maintenance.
The lawmakers received input on their proposed changes from Mitchell and Womack, but when asked about their roles in drafting the bills, Warren Daniel declined to comment.
An attempt to restructure the state election board through a 2017 law was rejected by the State Supreme Court. With the court now leaning conservative, Republicans have revived their efforts. Currently, Governor Cooper appoints all five members of the election board, but only three can be Democrats. Under the Republican proposal, the board would consist of eight members, all appointed by state lawmakers—four by Democratic leaders and four by Republican leaders.
State Senator Paul Newton, the Republican sponsor of the bill, presented it as a measure intended to remove partisan advantage entirely from elections administration. However, the bill would likely result in deadlock on numerous significant election issues, a prospect that has concerned election officials and democracy experts.
In 2022, following reports of harassment towards election officials, the current election board introduced rules that limited access for poll watchers, a decision that angered conservatives. Furthermore, there is a major unknown factor: What would happen if the new election board becomes deadlocked in certifying an election? The bill fails to address this scenario. Phil Berger, the Republican leader of the State Senate, indicated that such a deadlock would probably lead to the matter being decided by the courts, where rulings may be influenced by the partisan affiliation of the judge or court involved.
Robyn Sanders, a counsel at the Brennan Center, commented on the situation, describing the omission as revealing. She believes that the bill was deliberately designed to create situations that would prompt court involvement.
In conclusion, North Carolina finds itself at the center of a fiercely contested political battle over voting rights and control of elections. Democrats and Republicans alike are determined to secure victories in this presidential battleground, leading to intense confrontations across various aspects of the electoral apparatus. The outcome of this struggle will have significant implications for the state and its democratic processes moving forward.
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