VOTING

"We will make sure not one single vote in this state is either cast or counted without Republican observers and attorneys in the room," said state Republican Party chair Michael Whatley at last week's Wake County Republican Party convention. The pledge to ramp up political scrutiny of polling sites ahead of the mid-term elections comes at a time that election officials nationwide are raising an alarm about the polarized voting environment.

Voter turnout was higher in last year's general election among most demographic groups, but it barely changed from 2016 for young Black voters. Indeed, data from the NC State Board of Elections paint a sobering picture of the low turnout rate among young Black voters aged 18-40.

A young Black man approached the tabulator and inserted his ballot. He stood back, unsure of what would happen next. The machine inhaled it.  Moments later, a message on the screen signaled that his ballot had been accepted. In the most historic election in modern history, his vote would count. “First time voter!” a poll worker announced. The polling place erupted in applause.

North Carolina among the "biggest losers" in terms of voting rights It hadn’t even been a day since the U.S. Supreme Court dismantled one of the pillars of voting rights in America, and North Carolina lawmakers weren’t wasting any time.

More than 10% of all registered voters in North Carolina have already requested an absentee ballot for the November election, according to the State Board of Elections, a 1,400% increase compared with the same time in the 2016 election cycle. And the number will certainly increase before the Oct. 27 deadline to request an absentee ballot. The uptick in requests is attributed to concerns about voting in-person during the COVID-19 pandemic.

You’ve seen the headlines and no doubt received hundreds (thousands?) of action alerts from well-meaning groups and individuals informing you that the 2018 election is the most important in recent American history.

“How hard can it be to get a photo ID?” My neighbor asked this sincere question at a community picnic. Voters are being asked this fall to decide for or against: “Constitutional amendment to require voters to provide photo identification before voting in person.”