Insightus has been closely following, and reporting on, North Carolina early voting action for weeks now. And last week we first noticed something really strange: ballot-casting activity among the state’s 100 counties was beginning to separate neatly into two distinctly weird groups. The good news for democracy was that a majority of NC counties were displaying very strong turnout (well in excess of 2012’s performance). But in a substantial minority of counties, early voting seemed to be slumping. We soft-pedaled our discussion of this for a couple of days, uncertain whether it was just a temporary reporting glitch or an actual disaster.
But late last night we decided to call it: thanks to the North Carolina Republican Party and its executive director, Dallas Woodhouse, North Carolina is now in the midst of a man-made electoral catastrophe of truly biblical proportions .
The chart above (current through October 24) tells the tale. Early voting is all but dead in eighteen counties — including four of the state’s 10 largest (Mecklenburg, Guilford, Forsyth and Gaston), ranging from just 3% of 2012’s voting performance to about 30%. Meanwhile, voters in 82 other counties are voting at rates that average 125% of 2012. For the details, check out our breaking blog post.
We’re working on a pro bono basis with attorneys from the new civil rights law group, Forward Justice, to detail this emerging disaster and to bring pressure to bear on those 18 ne’er-do-well counties and the State Board of Elections to immediately respond to this looming disaster. Forward Justice’s renowned legal director, attorney Penda Hair, told us:
In counties that unnecessarily limited the number of early voting sites available during the first week of early voting or cut early voting hours, we are already seeing excessive wait times that are having the effect of deterring voters from casting their ballots. The NC NAACP has received multiple reports, particularly from Guilford, Forsyth, and Mecklenburg Counties, of voters forced to abandon their place in line because of wait times of two or more hours. The long lines that voters have already endured during these first days of early voting foretell of an untenable situation on Election Day that could leave voters disenfranchised, and the NC NAACP is urging the SBOE to act now to expand early voting hours and sites in Guilford, Forsyth, and Mecklenburg, before it is too late.
Whether or not you’re an affected voter, or even a North Carolinian, you can add your voice to the rising chorus protesting this true Republican conspiracy to throw the election. Let them know the whole world is watching. See the list of email addresses below the following update.