If you haven’t seen this already, here’s a rundown of the wonderful things happening in North Carolina that the billionaire Koch brothers hope to replicate in other states. Not that they’ve given up on controlling the US Senate, White House, several major newspapers, energy policy . . . the list goes on. But their current [...]
The new Republican-majority State Board of Elections took office today and quickly elected attorney Josh Howard as its chair. Partisan wrangling broke out over the selection of the new executive director to replace the 20-year veteran Gary Bartlett. Bartlett is nationally recognized for upgrading the state’s voting system, increasing professional management of county election offices, [...]
Amid prayers, songs, and speeches condemning a litany of new policies attacking the poor, seventeen protesters were arrested as they blocked the giant gold doors leading into the state Senate chamber. Adam Sotak of Democracy North Carolina joined the Rev. William J. Barber II of the NC NAACP and 15 others who followed the tradition [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Hundreds of every day North Carolinians are meeting with lawmakers in Raleigh today, advocating for things like economic and social justice, access to quality, affordable healthcare, ending violence against women and protecting voting rights. Lobby days are more important than ever. It is vital that concerned citizens to come together to walk the legislature's halls, [...]
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 [...]