Judge in North Carolina orders restoration of some of 6,700 voters of all races dropped from rolls over past two years
"REPUBLICAN PARTY SEEKS TO SUPPRESS VOTE" IN NORTH CAROLINA."
Big election story. NYT Op-Ed this morning says the problem is NOT "rigging" by Democrats but voter suppression by Republicans. I mean a federal district court in North Carolina just RULED that many voters taken off the rolls in the past 90 days must be restored. The op-ed, on the editorial pages, is by the state director of the NAACP, which brought the suit that resulted in the ruling.
Serious stuff, this disenfranchisement. At rallies in North Carolina in the past few days, President Obama said that dark powers were trying to prevent Blacks from voting and warned, "Listen up, not so long ago" states across the South engaged in widespread voter disenfranchisement. It can happen again, he warned. Serious stuff, the President of the United States warning Black residents that their state's electoral system systematically seeks to disenfranchise them.
There are about 7 million registered voters in North Carolina. Of these voters, 1.5 million are Black. A slightly larger percentage of Blacks in the state are registered to vote than their percentage in the population.
During the past two years, state election officials report,some 6,700 voters were removed from the rolls. No statistics on what race. This skullduggery apparently was chiefly in three countries. One removed 5,600, one removed 690, and one removed 65. The judge ordered these restored because they resulted from "blanket removals."
Fairly piss-poor small blanket removal that got 6,700 out of 7.0 million over a two-year period.
The removals were legal, but the focus of the court was on the 90 days before the election, when "blanket" removals are not allowed.
In each case, the removal came when the Voter Integrity Project presented, as required by law, proof that the voter no longer lived or lived at the residence registered. This came by presenting mail that had been returned to the post office marked "undeliverable" at that address.
One of oldest and best-known means of voter fraud is when "dead people vote"--someone, knowing the person is deceased but registered, goes and votes in his or her place. Easy to do, since the court back in July knocked down a law requiring voters to have any identification. The law applied equally to all races, but the NAACP argument that having to have an ID discriminated against blacks.
But North Carolina has no systematic way of clearing the rolls except by challenges from other voters, who are authorized by law to make these challenges. The effort by the Voter Integrity Project was to clear the rolls of the deceased to forestall one kind of fraudulent voting.
And you, you are the reporter. Should your story you write have the theme, or the very strong implication: Republicans in North Carolina seek to disenfranchise Black voters?
Big election story. NYT Op-Ed this morning says the problem is NOT "rigging" by Democrats but voter suppression by Republicans. I mean a federal district court in North Carolina just RULED that many voters taken off the rolls in the past 90 days must be restored. The op-ed, on the editorial pages, is by the state director of the NAACP, which brought the suit that resulted in the ruling.
Serious stuff, this disenfranchisement. At rallies in North Carolina in the past few days, President Obama said that dark powers were trying to prevent Blacks from voting and warned, "Listen up, not so long ago" states across the South engaged in widespread voter disenfranchisement. It can happen again, he warned. Serious stuff, the President of the United States warning Black residents that their state's electoral system systematically seeks to disenfranchise them.
There are about 7 million registered voters in North Carolina. Of these voters, 1.5 million are Black. A slightly larger percentage of Blacks in the state are registered to vote than their percentage in the population.
During the past two years, state election officials report,some 6,700 voters were removed from the rolls. No statistics on what race. This skullduggery apparently was chiefly in three countries. One removed 5,600, one removed 690, and one removed 65. The judge ordered these restored because they resulted from "blanket removals."
Fairly piss-poor small blanket removal that got 6,700 out of 7.0 million over a two-year period.
The removals were legal, but the focus of the court was on the 90 days before the election, when "blanket" removals are not allowed.
In each case, the removal came when the Voter Integrity Project presented, as required by law, proof that the voter no longer lived or lived at the residence registered. This came by presenting mail that had been returned to the post office marked "undeliverable" at that address.
One of oldest and best-known means of voter fraud is when "dead people vote"--someone, knowing the person is deceased but registered, goes and votes in his or her place. Easy to do, since the court back in July knocked down a law requiring voters to have any identification. The law applied equally to all races, but the NAACP argument that having to have an ID discriminated against blacks.
But North Carolina has no systematic way of clearing the rolls except by challenges from other voters, who are authorized by law to make these challenges. The effort by the Voter Integrity Project was to clear the rolls of the deceased to forestall one kind of fraudulent voting.
And you, you are the reporter. Should your story you write have the theme, or the very strong implication: Republicans in North Carolina seek to disenfranchise Black voters?
