On Wednesday, the NC House passed H 589, one of the most restrictive government photo ID bills in the country. The bill's sponsors opposed amendments to accept photo IDs from high schools or private colleges. Several other amendments were rejected, including a backup provision acceptable to 70% of NC voters: the backup would allow the [...]
On Monday morning, April 22, Democracy North Carolina’s executive director Bob Hall filed a formal request with the State Board of Elections to investigate possible illegal behavior related to campaign contributions by donors connected with the sweepstakes café industry. The call for investigation follows two research reports released by Democracy NC on March 18 and March [...]
The Associated Press has a story on the wire tonight that builds on an investigative report by Democracy North Carolina from last month, as well as substantial additional material we provided the AP reporter. There's more to be told, but the AP story for tonight begins: “State elections officials are calling for an investigation of [...]
Our state’s successful judicial public financing program is a national model, replicated in several states, but several bills in the General Assembly would kill it. The program provides a statewide voter guide and an alternative source of campaign funds for appellate court candidates who abide by certain public trust conditions. Here’s an update from NC Voters [...]
A new State Board of Elections analysis pinpoints who will be most harmed by a photo ID law. It says 318,643 out of 6.4 million voters don’t appear to have a NC driver’s license or identity card from the Division of Motor Vehicles. African Americans are a disproportionate share of this group. They’re 23% of all [...]
A survey by an independent polling firm adds new insights into how North Carolinians view a proposed photo ID requirement for voters. The poll by SurveyUSA indicates that 75% of NC voters favor a photo ID bill, but only a third think passing it should be a high priority. Also, 70% say a registered voter [...]
The chair of the Stanly County Board of Elections sets Lt. Gov. Dan Forest straight about provisional ballots in this column. In an earlier column, Forest revealed an embarrassing ignorance of election law when he claimed that provisional ballots are arbitrarily counted or discounted, without any standard, and a photo ID requirement would be the [...]
Last month, a link took you to an in-depth analysis of political fundraising involved in the 2012 election of the 50 members of the NC Senate. Here’s the link for NC FreeEnterprise Foundation’s analysis of the NC House races in 2012, including the role of outside spending groups, a look at the hottest contests, and [...]
North Carolina is receiving plenty of national attention for the wacko legislators in Raleigh who are ready to move us back to the nineteeth century or off to another world. I'm not just talking about the NC House resolution to declare our exemption from the US Constitution so a local government can certify an official religion [...]
Time is running out to register for the NC Council of Churches’ Legislative Seminar on April 11. As the registration form and program announcement says, “The full day of workshops is led by expert presenters and offers opportunities for progressive people of faith to learn about critical issues facing the General Assembly. Grassroots activists working [...]