NCGOP Prepared to Sue Durham County Over "Obstruction of Justice" in Denying NCGOP Access to Public Records | Eastern NC Now

Press Release:

    Raleigh, NC     Following almost a month of Durham County refusing to allow the public to view the absentee ballot envelopes, which are by law public record, the Durham County Board of Elections finally informed the NCGOP legal counsel on Wednesday that they would be willing to cooperate. An email from George McCue, the Deputy Director of Elections in Durham County, informed us that starting at 1:00 PM yesterday, they were going to make the absentee ballot envelopes available, and would continue to do so during business hours. Unfortunately, they did not follow through. After allowing volunteers to view only a small and specific selection of envelopes, they then shut down the whole operation and told our volunteers that they would not be able to come back and finish.

• "Durham County continues to put barriers up to prevent the public from viewing the absentee ballot signatures. Hence, we are left to believe that they are hiding something from North Carolina Republicans with malicious intent. As a result, we have no other choice than to plan on suing Durham County for evading public records request. We are fighting this fight for the citizens of our great state. They deserve to know what is going on, and they deserve to have confidence in their elector system. For these reasons, we ask that Durham County stop stonewalling the process and allow our volunteers to view the rest of the absentee ballot signatures. Durham County is in direct conflict with the State Board's guidelines and North Carolina law. They have willfully and proudly violated the law for nearly a month, and are opening themselves up to serious criminal and civil action. This must stop at once. We demand access to the absentee ballot envelopes in Durham County immediately, or we will sue for access and request that the State Board take over all election operations in Durham in accordance with state law."
• - NCGOP Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse

    A memo released by the State Board of Elections recently said, "Absentee ballot request forms and all absentee ballot return envelopes are 'public records' under North Carolina's Public Records Act. See G.S. § 132-1(a). Access to public records must be made at the earliest opportunity, taking into consideration statutory obligations and priorities. Transparency is essential to the administration of elections, and we encourage you to make records available securely at the earliest possible point."

    The real question is this-- Why does Durham County continue to prevent the public from viewing what is by law, their right to see? Counties all across the state have followed public record laws, allowing the NCGOP and their campaigns to view absentee ballot envelopes, which include witness signatures. Viewing these signatures is key to rooting out systematic voter fraud through illegal absentee ballot harvesting, such as what was discovered in Bladen County.

• Contact: Emily Weeks
•     Emily.Weeks@ncgop.org