Voting Rights Update: It's a Four-Ring Circus

by Tricia Shapiro

Changes in the rules governing your right to vote this year are still being made by local, state, and federal government. Here's what we know, as of June 26:

In Ring One: Locally, our county elections board voted unanimously last month to have all three of Madison County's usual early voting sites open this fall. 🎉

Meanwhile, in Ring Two, the Republican partisans who now run NC's state Board of Elections have proposed a bunch of voting rule changes that, if finalized, will govern voting this fall. The changes would affect absentee voting, photo ID, recounts, voting site rules, voter list maintenance, and "periodic review of existing rules."

The public comment period for those rule changes ends July 14. Here, from NC Democrats’ Voter Access Program, is how YOU can make a difference by submitting a comment:

"Here’s the template letter we’ve been sharing: https://bit.ly/3S402L4. We ask that folks:

1) access template letter,

2) make their own copy,

3) customize the letter with their information,

4) submit via email to: rulemaking.sboe@ncsbe.gov, and

5) confirm submission by bcc to: vote@ncdp.org.”

And in Ring Three, the state legislature, yet another slew of voting rule changes has been proposed by Republicans, then pulled back when they've lacked enough votes to pass, revised, re-proposed ... and publicly protested. Here, from WRAL, is a sum-up of what was on the table this week. And, from NC Newsline, coverage of how this has played out so far, and where it's headed.

In Ring Four, at the national level, the Trump administration has been pushing a variety of vote-rigging efforts (see here and here, for example). Some of these come with threats or reprisals that don’t affect NC directly or immediately, since the GOP partisans dominating our state legislature and our state elections board have been willing to agree to anything the Trump regime asks. And at this point those national efforts are still tied up in court, so it’s not knowable whether any will affect elections in NC this year. 

We’ll continue to keep an eye on all this, so we can keep you informed. For weekly updates on changes to voting rules, and other WNC-relevant political and governmental news, see NC News Digest.