The New York Times is publishing a podcast series entitled “The Improvement Association” by “This American Life” reporter Zoe Chace. The series examines the backstory to the Republican absentee ballot fraud in Bladen County, North Carolina that when exposed caused the state Board of Elections to overturn the 2018 congressional election in NC-9.
Chapter 2 looks at Republican allegations that the Black-run Bladen Improvement PAC has been cheating for years. Chace found no evidence for this in observing multiple elections since. What “evidence” Republicans in the area showed her was more a collection of suspicions and unsubstantiated allegations. But it might be voter fraud, could be, possibly, etc.
Essentially, Bladen Republicans were indifferent to Black voters organizing until Black candidates (including a Black sheriff) began winning elections in the rural county. Republican allegations that followed of Democrats cheating sound familiar here on the opposite end of the state. It is a pattern Hullabaloo readers will recognize from national Republican politics: elections are only legitimate if Republicans win.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Marc Elias of Democracy Docket is Democrats’ most prominent election protection attorney, He issued another “On the Docket” email today. Subject line: Republican “Army” Expands State Strategy. Here is just some of what else is percolating in the states:
In the States: Republicans’ 50-State Strategy
There’s a lot to keep track of in the world of voting rights this week. Corporations are feeling the pressure to weigh in on suppressive legislation. Republicans are planning ahead—proposing legislation to make voting harder, and recruiting for their Election Day activities around bills that have yet to pass. Plus, redistricting is coming up, in what will be a much-litigated process to establish the landscape for the 2022 elections (we will have your guide to all things redistricting, coming soon). Here are some key highlights from the states this week:
Texas: Republicans in Harris County are preparing a poll watching “army” to intimidate Black and brown voters and gin up unfounded allegations of voter fraud. In a leaked video obtained by the watchdog group Common Cause, Texas Republicans are heard laying out their recruitment plan for a 10,000-member “Election Integrity Brigade.” They’re recruiting suburban conservatives from mostly white areas of the Lone Star state to flood Black and brown precincts of Harris County with partisan poll watchers—who, under recently-proposed Republican legislation, would be empowered to film voters they suspect of fraudulent behavior and send those videos to the Secretary of State. The potential for voter intimidation and harassment here is virtually unlimited, and the Republican Party knows it: they’re asking for volunteers with “confidence and courage” to come to Harris County and film the “voter fraud” they know isn’t happening. Why such courage would be needed for honest, good-faith poll watching is up to you to infer. You can watch the video for yourself here.
New Hampshire: The introduction of cameras at polling places is not limited to Texas. In New Hampshire, new voter ID laws that have passed the Republican-led state house would require voters who register on Election Day and do not have an accepted photo ID to have their photos taken at their polling location; the bill, HB 523, would also eliminate previous religious exemptions for voter ID requirements. Another piece of legislation, HB 292, would add additional ID requirements for voters requesting an absentee ballot be sent to a different address than the one on file with their county clerk. This provision clearly targets highly-mobile college students, who have been a key focus of Republican voter suppression in the Granite State. New Hampshire has one of the highest student populations as a share of their total electorate, and HB 292 is just one of many attacks on their access to the ballot this year. The two voter suppression bills now move to the state senate for consideration.
Ohio: The Buckeye State holds an honorable title at the moment: it is one of only three states that is not currently considering voter suppression legislation. That will soon change—it was reported this week that the state Republican leadership plan to introduce their first voter suppression bills of 2021 soon. We don’t have a draft of the legislation yet, but it will include banning drop boxes except in emergencies, as well as taking aim at other voting reforms that were the center of debate during the 2020 election. Also under consideration: eliminating early voting on the day before Election Day, and moving up the deadline for absentee ballot requests. Democrats in Ohio have been proactive about battling these restrictions; last year, they sued the Secretary of State to allow counties to set up multiple drop boxes, and Democratic legislators have proposed a bill to establish at least one permanent drop box per county. But the legislation has no Republican sponsors and has not been put on the committee schedule by Republican leadership. We’ll keep you informed as new voter suppression legislation in Ohio gets introduced.