To: A. Grant Whitney Jr, Chair, State Board of Elections
Stop this attack on early voting in North Carolina
Democracy North Carolina
The US Supreme Court has just ruled that Gov. Pat McCrory and the legislature can't cut days off the early voting period this fall, but now North Carolina Republican leaders are trying to eliminate early voting on Sunday afternoon and remove sites previously used on campuses. Tell the State Board of Elections when it meets on September 8 to repudiate this move to suppress voting and adopt strong early voting plans for the November election!
Why is this important?
Incredible! Republican leaders who complain about "rigged elections" are trying to do exactly that in North Carolina by making it harder for African Americans and students to use early voting.
Dallas Woodhouse, executive director of the North Carolina Republican Party, sent instructions to Republicans who hold the majority on all 100 county boards of elections to "make party line changes to early voting."
He specifically told them to close early voting sites on Sunday, remove them from college campuses, and open more in Republican areas, according to his emails obtained by the Raleigh News & Observer.
More than half of N.C.’s voters used early voting in 2008 and 2012; it was even more heavily used by African Americans and young voters. Closing sites and reducing hours will mean longer lines and discouraged voters on Election Day.
Fortunately, many Republican members on county election boards are ignoring Woodhouse and obeying their oath to serve all voters. But in Raleigh, Fayetteville, Wilmington, and many other areas, they are opposing Sunday voting where it was used in the March primary.
The reduced early voting plans of these counties will come before the State Board of Elections on September 8. The State Board has the power to restore them and repudiate the deliberate anti-black, anti-youth strategy of Republican Party leaders.
Sign the petition to ask Mr. Grant Whitney Jr., board chair, and other board members to restore early voting on Sunday afternoons and on campuses that were recently eliminated or opposed by Republican county election boards. Last month, the federal Court of Appeals overturned a state law it said would suppress voting; we can't let local officials do the same thing with weak or discriminatory early voting plans for November.
Dallas Woodhouse, executive director of the North Carolina Republican Party, sent instructions to Republicans who hold the majority on all 100 county boards of elections to "make party line changes to early voting."
He specifically told them to close early voting sites on Sunday, remove them from college campuses, and open more in Republican areas, according to his emails obtained by the Raleigh News & Observer.
More than half of N.C.’s voters used early voting in 2008 and 2012; it was even more heavily used by African Americans and young voters. Closing sites and reducing hours will mean longer lines and discouraged voters on Election Day.
Fortunately, many Republican members on county election boards are ignoring Woodhouse and obeying their oath to serve all voters. But in Raleigh, Fayetteville, Wilmington, and many other areas, they are opposing Sunday voting where it was used in the March primary.
The reduced early voting plans of these counties will come before the State Board of Elections on September 8. The State Board has the power to restore them and repudiate the deliberate anti-black, anti-youth strategy of Republican Party leaders.
Sign the petition to ask Mr. Grant Whitney Jr., board chair, and other board members to restore early voting on Sunday afternoons and on campuses that were recently eliminated or opposed by Republican county election boards. Last month, the federal Court of Appeals overturned a state law it said would suppress voting; we can't let local officials do the same thing with weak or discriminatory early voting plans for November.