CBC Editorial: Friday, March 19, 2021; Editorial #8648
The following is the opinion of Capitol Broadcasting Company.
Other WRAL Top Stories
Anyone seeking examples of how government works best, need look no farther than North Carolina state and local boards of elections. Moving ahead the General Assembly would be ill-advised in taking any action limiting these effective agencies – but rather should help them do even better at getting more eligible people registered to vote and casting ballots.
Amid one of the worst health crises faced by the state and nation – when the kinds of personal actions and interactions that voting necessitates were the most challenged – the state set records in the number of people eligible to vote (7.4 million); the number of people who cast ballots (5.5 million) and saw the greatest share of eligible voters participate (75.4%).
That is a huge accomplishment not just in overcoming the monumental challenge of the pandemic, but also the unprecedented flood of voters who tested the technical and human capacity of dealing with the tsunami of ballots cast by mail and early via in-person voting.
More than 57,000 individuals responded to state and local boards of elections calls for help. More than 30,000 people helped with outreach to senior citizen communities, those with disabilities and others who needed assistance or information about voting. Those efforts didn’t go unnoticed. The State Board of Elections was nationally recognized for its “best practices in recruiting, retaining and training poll workers” for its “Democracy Heroes” program by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
Two counties, Wake and Durham, were similarly recognized for their efforts in innovation and poll worker recruitment.
Even more astonishing, it was all done with enthusiasm and grace even with unrelenting meddling and challenges from Republicans in the legislature and state party in their efforts to depress turnout. Imagine that. Working to discourage and inhibit people from voting!
Worse was the mean-spirited, baseless and irresponsible claims of fraud and cheating from former President Donald Trump amplified in his nine visits to the state while voting was going on and parroted by his unquestioning partisans.
Repeated studies and investigations – with results released as recently as this week -- have found the 2020 elections were secure and the counts accurate in the nation and in North Carolina.
“We encourage all North Carolinians to read these reports and to seek reliable, nonpartisan information about elections from state and county elections officials, not social media or unverified sources. We know from this report and our own experiences that efforts to undermine voter confidence in elections are widespread,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the state Board of Elections. “Please help us stop the spread of misinformation.”
While certainly not perfect, for the first-time voters were able to easily track the progress of their mail-in ballots. In-person voters were able to cast ballots efficiently and most importantly, safely with all necessary COVID-19 precautions in place. Through their own experience, voters were able to see through the fog of lies emanating from the White House and misinformation spread via social media and trouble-making foreign actors.
By the time voting was done in November 2020, 82% (1.8 million) of the registered Republicans voted; 75% (2 million) of the Democrats; and 70% (1.7 million) of unaffiliated voters cast ballots.
Bitter election and voting disputes are not unfamiliar in North Carolina, particularly in recent years. There is little evidence that the record-setting success in getting voters of all stripes to the polls is going to bring any reduction or calm.
Senate leader Phil Berger, the Republican from Rockingham County, says he’s taking aim at the State Board of Elections for how it was “able last year to make the changes before the election.” Those changes, all done appropriately with full legal authority, were critical to the elections being conducted smoothly and in ways that encouraged MORE people to vote.
What’s wrong with that?
Berger and his legislative followers should be praising state and local officials, workers and volunteers for the amazing job they did giving the state more voter participation than ever.
Rather than looking at ways to handcuff state and local boards as they do their jobs, legislative leaders should be having them appear in open meetings to explain how they did their job so well, outline what they need to do their job even better and vote to provide them with ALL the resources they need.
Legislators who don’t understand that, abuse and ridicule the special trust their constituents have granted them.
Legislators need to stop looking for opportunities to rig the system, handpick their voters and keep others out. The sole focus should be on providing the resources to INCREASE legal voter participation and break the records set in 2020.
TOP PRESIDENTIAL YEAR VOTER TURNOUT
| YEAR | TOTAL REGISTERED | TOTAL BALLOTS | PERCENT TURNOUT |
| 2020 | 7.4 M | 5.5 M | 75.4% |
| 2008 | 6.3 M | 4.4 M | 69.5% |
| 2016 | 6.9 M | 4.8 M | 69.0% |
| 1984 | 3.3 M | 2.2 M | 68.5% |
| 2012 | 6.5 M | 4.5 M | 68.4% |
| 1992 | 3.8 M | 2.6 M | 68.4% |
SOURCE: N.C. Board of Elections -- Voter Turnout
VOTING METHOD IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION YEARS: 2008-PRESENT
| YEAR | BY MAIL | IN PERSON EARLY VOTING | ELECTION DAY |
| 2020 | 18% | 65% | 16% |
| 2016 | 4% | 62% | 33% |
| 2012 | 5% | 56% | 38% |
| 2008 | 5% | 55.5% | 38.5% |
SOURCE: N.C. Board of Elections -- Voter Turnout
NOTE: State Board of Elections Chairman Damon Circosta is executive director of the A.J Fletcher Foundation. James Goodmon, chairman and CEO of Capitol Broadcasting Company is the chairman of the A.J. Fletcher Foundation.