By Jordan Meadows
Staff Writer
Voting rights organizations gathered outside the North Carolina Legislative Building Monday morning to mark 100 days until Election Day and call on state lawmakers to reject what advocates described as efforts to create additional barriers to voting.
The event, titled “100 Days Out: Voting Rights Groups to Launch Countdown to Election Day,” brought together representatives from Forward Justice, Common Cause North Carolina, the North Carolina Black Alliance, Democracy North Carolina, the North Carolina NAACP, North Carolina Asian Americans Together and other advocacy groups as the General Assembly returned from its July 4th break.
The organizations used the event to announce plans for voter education, registration assistance, mobilization efforts and rapid response programs across all 100 counties leading up to the November election.
Brittany Gloria Justice opened the event by saying the organizations were gathering to respond to what they viewed as a continued effort by lawmakers to restrict access to the ballot.
“Yesterday marked 100 days until November 3rd,” Gloria Justice said. “100 days until our midterm elections, where North Carolinians will head to the polls and make their voices heard.”
She criticized recent legislative proposals, including House Bill 958, an elections bill that advocates say would create new challenges for voters and absentee ballots.
“The bills that we’ve seen coming from them recently, like House Bill 958, have been more focused on silencing and shutting out voters than protecting our sacred and constitutional right to have a say in how we’re governed,” Justice said. “And we stand here today to say: not on our watch.”
Gloria Justice said the coalition would focus on ensuring voters have access to information and resources before Election Day.
Marcus Bass, executive director of the North Carolina Black Alliance, said the event represented a commitment from voting rights organizations to continue voter education efforts as lawmakers consider election changes. Bass said his organization has been monitoring actions taken by lawmakers during the legislative session and argued that recent proposals could affect voters across political affiliations.
“We’ve been watching what is happening in this building behind me every single day,” Bass said. “As we’ve gone 1,000-plus days, about 100, as we’ve gone decades without healthcare access to education, now they are trying to continue to dismantle our right to vote.”
Bass specifically pointed to House Bill 958, which passed the state House earlier this year and is under consideration in the Senate. He argued the issue extends beyond partisan politics.
“They will make you believe that the Republicans and the Democrats are going back and forth around partisanship,” Bass said. “But the implications of House Bill 958 and the actions that are happening in this General Assembly are far greater than Democrat and Republican.”
Bass said independent voters, who make up the largest registered voting group in North Carolina, could also be affected by election law changes, and criticized changes involving election administration and State Auditor Dave Boliek’s role in reviewing election procedures.
Representatives from North Carolina Asian Americans Together also discussed efforts to provide language assistance and voter support services. A representative shared a story from the previous election involving a Korean-speaking voter who contacted the organization’s voter protection hotline while attempting to request an absentee ballot.
The North Carolina NAACP also addressed the historical connection between voting access and civil rights. Irving L. Joyner, professor at the North Carolina Central University(NCCU) School of Law since 1982 said the organization’s work is rooted in protecting voting rights that were historically restricted through state policies and laws.
“As the North Carolina NAACP, we stand forward to fight against that because we declare that we will not go back to the way that it used to be,” Joyner said. “We will be aggressive in registering people, to make sure that they are in a position to vote, then re-registering or confirming the registration of those people who think that they are registered.”
A representative from Democracy North Carolina said decisions involving polling locations and access points can influence voter participation, citing examples of polling location disputes involving students and young voters.
Other speakers referenced the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which invalidated a key portion of the Voting Rights Act that required certain jurisdictions to receive federal approval before changing voting laws, and made a point that voting rights organizations have since relied on litigation and advocacy to challenge election policies.
House Bill 958 remains under consideration in the General Assembly. The legislation would make several changes to election procedures, including limiting early voting periods, allowing any North Carolina resident to challenge another resident’s ballot, and granting the state auditor authority to conduct random audits of county election results. The NC House passed House Bill 958 in a 66-47 party-line vote earlier this month.
