454 voters had ballots rejected in May primary, advocacy group says

by Patrick Gannon, The Insider, published in Under the Dome, September 10, 2014.

Voter advocates and watchdog groups on Wednesday urged voters to prepare for the Nov. 4 elections by ensuring they’re registered at their current addresses before the Oct. 10 deadline, among other precautions aimed at ensuring their votes count.

Bob Hall, executive director of the Durham-based watchdog group Democracy North Carolina, and others held a news conference outside the State Board of Elections office in Raleigh. There, Hall said his organization reviewed records of thousands of provisional ballots cast in the May primary and found 454 were rejected because of election law changes enacted by the General Assembly in 2013.

The voters, Hall said, either weren’t able to register and vote during the early voting period because of the elimination of “same-day registration,” or they tried to cast provisional ballots outside their home precincts on Election Day, which is no longer allowed, and the ballots were rejected.

Hall cited names and home towns of voters whose ballots weren’t counted in May that would have been counted in 2012, before the law changes – which are being challenged in court – took effect. He mentioned Granville County resident Craig Thomas, who returned from serving in the Army in Afghanistan and went to vote early and found his registration was inactive. He cast a provisional ballot that wasn’t counted. Under the old system, he could have registered and voted the same day.

“These are real people. These are folks from all walks of life,” Hall said.

Hall suggested that the number of voters affected by the new laws passed by the Republican-led Legislature far outnumbers the number of potential fraud cases the laws were aimed at preventing.

“When they bring up cases of fraud, they’re talking about cases of three and four and five,” Hall said. “This is 450 people who were denied the right to vote in one primary election where you have small turnout. ... We could have thousands in the general (election), even in an off year.”

Hall and others on Wednesday urged voters to check their registrations at NCVoter.orgto make sure they are registered at their current addresses. They also advised voters to vote early, as some problems can be fixed at that time that can’t be fixed on Election Day. And, if voters wait until Nov. 4 to vote, they must vote in their home precincts.

“Most of these folks who were disenfranchised (in May) thought they could vote out of precinct, the way we’ve been doing it for several years now, and they were turned away,” Hall said.

Hall reiterated that preparation is key.

“For any big event in your life, you should be prepared,” he said. “Take that to heart with voting.”