Resolution To Ensure Election Integrity | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Here are the remarks Lieutenant Governor Robinson delivered to the NC General Assembly (April 22, 2020):

    "I am the first black lieutenant governor of North Carolina. I hail from Greensboro, the home of the Woolworth sit-ins. It was an epi-center of the Civil Rights movement. I grew up poor as the ninth of ten children, in a home marred by alcoholism. But I had a mother who was a strong woman of faith and she sustained us. She was also a woman who lived through the horribleness of Jim Crow and witnessed the sacrifices made by those to insure that black voices would be heard in government. I know right now she is up in heaven smiling as she sees her son in this committee hearing. But today I am not here to talk about myself...... I am very proud of the history in this nation of my people. My people were put in the belly of ships, and bound in chains during the middle passage. My people were whipped, beaten, and sold as property into slavery. During Reconstruction and during Jim Crow, my people were in intimidated, harassed, and even killed to keep them from having a voice in government. Symbols like chains, nooses, and burning crosses were not just symbols of death but symbols of forced, coerced silence. The sacrifices of our ancestors so I can have the opportunity to become the first black lieutenant governor of my state, to see a black man sit in the White House for two terms, and for millions of us to become leaders in business, athletics, government, and culture add up to an incredible story of victory.

    Today we hear that our states are being compared to Jim Crow, that black voices are being silenced and that black voices are being kept out. How? By bullets, by bombs, by nooses? NO... by requiring a free photo ID to secure their vote. Let me say that again - By requiring a free ID to secure the vote. How absolutely preposterous! Am I to believe that black Americans who have overcome the atrocities of slavery, who were victorious in the Civil Rights movement, and who now sit in the highest level of this government cannot figure out how to get a FREE ID to secure their votes? Am I to believe that they need to be coddled by politicians because we can't figure out how to make our voices be heard? Are you kidding me?? The notion that black people must be protected from a free ID to secure their votes is not only insane, it is insulting. This has nothing to do with politics. It has everything to do with power."

    Background

    The presidential election of 2016, and especially the presidential election of 2020, exposed numerous flaws in the United States' election procedures. Across the nation, polling mechanisms, the design of election ballots, voting rules, hours, and allocation of financial resources vary significantly between states and localities. In many jurisdictions utilizing older types of voting equipment (such as punch-card machines) ballots were disqualified at significantly higher rates than in jurisdictions employing more accurate and reliable equipment (such as optical scan machines). Moreover, due to the lack of legislative prioritization for funding of election administration, officials in many states and localities do not have the resources to hire adequate numbers of election workers and conduct meaningful voter education programs. Additionally, in some instances, efforts to purge ineligible voters from registration rolls (including those who have died, moved, or been sentenced as felons) have resulted in the mistaken elimination of fully eligible voters from registration rolls. Finally, we can't forget that the 2020 presidential election allowed a number of additional votes to be cast because of the pandemic.

    Election laws that place high burdens of proof on the voter, combined with inadequate checks and balances in these systems in place on Election Day, have made it difficult for aggrieved voters to obtain redress, and the inadequacy of election laws (which seem to only be getting worse and worse) make it incredibly difficult for those alleging voter and election fraud to have reported incidents investigated.

    Complaining about the 2020 election without offering and enacting remedies doesn't fix anything. It only adds to our collective frustration with our overly-ambitious (and scheming) political parties and with those voters without character, morals, or ethics who are willing to cheat the system.

    Our American tradition teaches us that the process of choosing leaders is not a privilege, but a collective responsibility. We teach in our schools that we have a civic duty to be informed and to vote. Voting is the most democratic element of our constitutional republic - "the voice of the people."

    In order to restore confidence in the integrity and fairness of our nation's election process, government agencies at the federal, state and local levels must work together to evaluate the various components of our electoral system. And then each of those government systems should take any necessary and all appropriate steps to strengthen and/or change policy at the federal, state and local levels to ensure that all persons wishing to vote are given a meaningful opportunity to do so, and all votes determined to be valid in accordance with established fair standards are counted accordingly. Congress and other government agencies should assess approaches that aim to ensure fairness with regard to casting and counting of votes, including, but not limited to, the implementation of a uniform nationwide poll closing time and uniform standards for counting disputed ballots within individual states.

    When we think of voting, we instinctively assume that we have the RIGHT to vote. And I contend, with absolute certainty, that we indeed possess that right. There are several, however, who comment that there is no explicit right to vote in the US Constitution. And there are groups which advocate that the time has come to amend the Constitution to finally include such an express declaration of that right.

    Why do I say that we absolutely have the right to vote?

    We all know, or should know, that the united States of America was founded as a republic. The definition of "republic" is: "a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch." It is arguably a given that we have the right to vote. Representatives cannot be "elected" if the people don't have the right to elect them (ie, vote for the candidate of their choice). Our US Constitution, through several of its amendments (Fifteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-Six) assures that no citizen under the age of 18 can be denied this right. Furthermore, the Declaration of Independence, which lays out the principles of freedom and liberty, and the foundational philosophy for government in the American colonies, reads: "that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." In other words, we have, each in our own State, a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people" and it is certainly assumed that "of the people" means that ordinary citizens are selected (ie, elected) "by the people" (through a voting process).


    A DECLARATION OF THE RIGHT TO VOTE

    WHEREAS, the United States was founded upon the principle of self-government in which the right to vote is the most important and fundamental right of the people, and;

    WHEREAS, the right to vote is inherent in the fact that the united States of America was established as a republic (a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives...).

    WHERERAS, the Declaration of Independence clearly and expressly states that our States, and by extension our country, is a "government of the people, by the people, for the people" {Exact wording: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.-That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness....']

    WHEREAS, our Founding Fathers thought that the right to vote was critical to our form of government, and viewed it as a virtually sacred act.

• For example, Samuel Adams, the leader of the Boston Sons of Liberty and one of our most active and passionate of Founding Fathers had this to say about the right, and indeed, the duty, to vote: "Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote that he is not making a present or a compliment to please an individual - or at least that he ought not so to do; but that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country." [The Boston Gazette on April 16, 1781.] Adams also said: "Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote...that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country."
• Alexander Hamilton, a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 and a main author of The Federalist Papers, wrote: "A share in the sovereignty of the state, which is exercised by the citizens at large, in voting at elections is one of the most important rights of the subject, and in a republic ought to stand foremost in the estimation of the law."
• Thomas Jefferson, certainly one of our greatest Founder and the author of our Declaration of Independence, wrote: "The elective franchise, if guarded as the ark of our safety, will peaceably dissipate all combinations to subvert a Constitution, dictated by the wisdom, and resting on the will of the people."
• And finally, John Jay, one of the three authors of The Federalist Papers and appointed to the bench of the very first US Supreme Court, said: "The Americans are the first people whom Heaven has favored with an opportunity of deliberating upon and choosing the forms of government under which they should live."

    WHEREAS, 18th-century American lexicographer, Noah Webster said: "...If the citizens neglect their Duty and place unprincipled men in office, the government will soon be corrupted; laws will be made, not for the public good so much as for selfish or local purposes; corrupt or incompetent men will be appointed to execute the Laws; the public revenues will be squandered on unworthy men; and the rights of the citizen will be violated or disregarded."

    WHEREAS, our US Bill of Rights, and our state Bill of Rights (Declaration of Rights), requires the government to protect and secure the Natural Law Rights of the sovereign States and their sovereign citizens. The Fifteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-Sixth Amendments specifically protect a citizen's right to vote. Free and secure elections are the only way to preserve faith in government and individual freedom.

    WHEREAS, the right to vote is an INDIVIDUAL right and not a COLLECTIVE right. While we indeed have a constitutional republic as our system of government, there are some democratic elements associated with it and the biggest one is our power at the ballot box to choose the representatives that comprise our "people's government."

    WHEREAS, the nation's state Secretaries of State are responsible for protecting an individual's right to vote by ensuring access, accuracy and integrity in elections.

    WHEREAS, the conduct of elections is primarily the responsibility of state and local election officials, while the right to vote for federal officials is governed by the US Constitution (see Article I, Section 4, Clause 1: "The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of choosing Senators."). In the case United States v. Classic (1941), the Supreme Court held that the right to vote for Members of Congress is derived from the Federal Constitution. Congress may use its power under this clause, combined with the Necessary and Proper Clause, to regulate the times, places, and manner of electing Members of Congress so as to fully safeguard the integrity of the process. Article II (Sections 1-4) address the election of the President of the United States (see below).

    WHEREAS, America's voting systems and election procedures must ensure that all votes are counted accurately and that voting is as, convenient, accessible and secure as possible.

    WHEREAS, our collective expertise with election issues and our strong commitment to fair, secure and accurate elections will enhance our democratic process.

    US CONSTITUTION, ARTICLE II (The Executive Branch), Sections 1-4

    Clause 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows

    Clause 2. Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.