Just as we turned out in record numbers in the midst of a pandemic, we must now come together to demand that our leaders protect our freedom to vote, and ensure every North Carolinian can cast their ballot safely and securely, no matter the circumstances at hand.
Yesterday, with news the budget has been agreed to, the NCGA quickly brought four anti-voter bills (S326, S724, S725, and H259) before the rules committee. With strong objections from voting rights advocates and several legislators, they were passed. They will be voted on in the full chamber today.
The North Carolina General Assembly's SB 326 would overturn a longstanding voter protection that ensures ballots cast by mail, and postmarked by 5 p.m. on Election Day, are not tossed in the trash. If this bill were in effect in 2020, 11,000+ ballots cast by mail would have been discarded, silencing thousands of voices. While that might not seem like much, every vote counted impacts tight races across the political spectrum. For example, the 2020 statewide race for NC Supreme Court Chief Justice was ultimately decided by less than 600 votes.
SB 724 should be amended to allow ALL North Carolinians to register to vote and update their registration online. Many North Carolinians do not have a driver's license or DMV ID card. Removing the prohibition on electronic signatures would open this option to all voters.
HB 259 would burden both election officials and the courts who must check the validity of jury excuses. This will pull resources away from the important task of administering free and fair elections and timely judicial work. NC has a robust and effective process to maintain accurate voter rolls.
We urge you to call your reps in the General Assembly about this immediately, as these votes are imminent. Please encourage people in your network to do the same.
SAMPLE LANGUAGE:
I am urging you to vote against SB 724, SB 725, SB 326, and HB 259 today. These various anti-voter measures are part of a national strategy to roll back decades of voter freedoms and are in direct retaliation to 2020, when we saw the most historic voter turnout in North Carolina’s history.
Senate Bill 724 commits taxpayer dollars to enforce a racially discriminatory photo ID law currently blocked by the courts, while playing politics with North Carolina’s popular OVR process in ways that will disenfranchise voters.
SB 725 would prohibit local Boards of Elections from utilizing non profit funding sources, which was necessary for 97 out of 100 counties last year. That funding was used to equip polling locations with general supplies, pay poll workers a living wage, rent sites adequate for social distancing requirements, hire more staff to process mail-in ballots, and buy necessary safety items used by voters such as single use pens.
SB 326’s overturning of the longstanding voter protection that ensures ballots cast by mail, and postmarked by 5 p.m. on Election Day, will silence thousands of voices. If this were in effect in 2020, 11,000 voters of all political stripes would have been disenfranchised.
HB 259 would expose North Carolina's immigrant community and naturalized citizens to potential harassment and violence by making their personal information public. In the past, this information has been weaponized by groups spreading false claims about undetected non-citizens on the voting rolls.
Every North Carolina voter must have the freedom to vote and the ability to cast their ballot safely and securely, no matter the circumstances at hand.
As your constituent, can I count on you to oppose this blatant effort to limit voting freedoms and vote “NO” on SB 326, SB 724, and SB 725?
