Election Day is more than just a day to go to the polls in North Carolina. For many, it’s a pilgrimage to participate in one of the most sacred duties we have as Americans — voting.
Whether it be federal, state, or local elections, it’s our time to have our voices heard and hold elected officials like myself accountable.
When you head to your polling place on Nov. 3, you’ll be greeted by poll workers who have spent hours preparing your precinct and will spend more hours at that precinct ensuring the election goes off smoothly and safely. Unseen are the men and women who have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to put the election together for months before you even mark the bubbles on your ballot.
As a state senator, I work to ensure your ballot is safe and secure. When you enter your polling place you should know that your vote will be counted and won’t be diluted by bad actors who game the system.
Unfortunately, if Democrats have their way, the months of planning will go to waste.
Last week, the North Carolina State Board of Elections, along with the state’s Democratic attorney general, went behind the backs of the General Assembly and negotiated a settlement “agreement” to a lawsuit that if accepted, would rewrite election laws without a single vote from the legislature.
Our local elections staffers work diligently to provide safe and fair elections, only to be let down by so-called leaders who seek to rewrite state election laws in the middle of an election through collusive backroom deals.
The General Assembly passed absentee ballot protection measures after fraud marred the 2018 election in the Ninth Congressional District. We increased the witness requirement from one witness, to two — or just one notary.
Democrats can claim the witness requirement is still in full force — but that’s not at all true. If you can vote without a witness and then send in a piece of paper without another witness, there is no witness requirement.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we made a temporary change to the witness requirement to only require one witness. That way, we could still ensure the security of your vote, but also address concerns about exposure to the virus.
Safety and security. That is our goal in the General Assembly.
Now though, the Democratic-controlled North Carolina Board of Elections and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, negotiated in secret with Gov. Roy Cooper’s former attorney to essentially get rid of the witness requirement. If their collusive settlement is accepted, that means anyone who sends in a ballot without a witness signature will be sent a separate “affidavit” to sign attesting that they sent the ballot. However, no witness is required for that affidavit.
Democrats can claim the witness requirement is still in full force — but that’s not at all true. If you can vote without a witness and then send in a piece of paper without another witness, there is no witness requirement.
If that isn’t bad enough, now ballots put in anonymous, unmanned drop boxes outside of county elections boards can be counted, in direct violation of state law. There’s no way to prove who submitted those. They’re trying to legalize ballot harvesting.
My colleagues and I are doing everything we can to fight this on your behalf. Over the weekend, we filed a lawsuit to stop this collusive settlement. You deserve to have your voice heard. You deserve to have your vote counted, and not diluted by bad actors who can harvest ballots.
And the men and women who dedicate their lives to conducting elections deserve to know that all the work they do won’t be in vain.
This collusive settlement must be denied, for the sake of our state, and for the sake of your vote.
Senator Bob Steinburg is a Republican representing Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hertford, Hyde, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell, and Washington counties.