Civitas President Calls Out Elections Chief on Lie | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: This post, by Jim Tynen, was originally published in the Press Releases section of Civitas's online edition.

For Immediate Release:

    RALEIGH     Civitas Institute President Francis De Luca has called out the head of the State Board of Elections for lying about the state's elections process.

    A Thursday News & Observer story noted that Gary Bartlett, state elections director, claimed the current voter registration process allows county boards to confirm ballots are valid before votes are certified. He told the newspaper, "It gives us enough time to have safeguards, like checking to confirm the address they list is theirs by sending letters and making sure they're not returned."

    "Common sense shows that is impossible," De Luca said. "Early voting ends Nov. 3 and the county boards canvass ballots on Nov. 16. There is no way that in the middle of their busiest time election boards mail new voters the verification letters, get them back, send a second letter to double check them, and get it back, as the law prescribes. In fact, most counties have not even completed the process of verifying normal registrations prior to Election Day."

    "Also, you only have to look to the North Carolina Election code to see that the law even seems to say that where a verification notice is returned undeliverable after the voter has voted, the vote still counts," De Luca said, citing NCGS 163-82.7(g)(3).

    "In short, the state's voter registration process is broken. Mr. Bartlett must know this, but continues to make obviously false claims about how well it is working," De Luca concluded.

    "The many problems won't be fixed until new officials take over the Board of Elections and can work in tandem with state legislators to revamp the laws and the process."

    More information on the Civitas Institute is available at www.nccivitas.org, or contact Communications Director Jim Tynen at (919) 834-2099.

   CONTACT: Francis De Luca (919) 834-2099
    Francis.DeLuca@NCCivitas.org