Cloudy early, becoming mostly clear after midnight. Low near 50F. Winds light and variable..
Cloudy early, becoming mostly clear after midnight. Low near 50F. Winds light and variable.
Trusted Elections Tour Brings Bipartisan Crowd
Trusted Elections Panel Along with Moderator John Nagy
Trusted Elections Tour Brings Bipartisan Crowd
Trusted Elections Panel Along with Moderator John Nagy
The NC Trusted Elections Tour held its 12th town hall-style meeting on Tuesday in the Bradshaw Performing Arts Center at Sandhills Community College. The event was moderated by John Nagy, The Pilot’s editor.
North Carolina Network for Fair, Safe and Secure Elections organized the event, which attracted an audience of about 150. By the end of this coming week, the tour will have held a meeting in each of the state’s 14 congressional districts. It is being conducted in partnership with the League of Women Voters and the U.S. Veterans Hall of Fame. The tour began Aug. 30 in Wake Forest and will end Thursday, Oct. 6, in Hillsborough.
The presentation delivered straightforward election information, including the voting process from beginning to end; the electoral college system; cybersecurity concerns and safeguards; and mandates and legalities in a little over its 90-minute scheduled time.
The network is a bipartisan effort initiated by The Carter Center, a not-for-profit organization founded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn. Led by former Democratic Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts and former Republican N.C. Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, the network is made up of civic, business and religious leaders from both sides of the political aisle.
* Paul Cox, an attorney for the State Board of Elections;
* Linda Devore, a Republican member of the Cumberland County Board of Elections;
* Irene Grimes, a Democratic member of the Cumberland County Board of Elections;
*Carolina Mackie, a constitutional law attorney;
* Seth Morris, an education law attorney.
The evening began with Roberts welcoming the audience and giving a brief overview of the tour. Orr then delivered a short history of NC voting history that included reminding the audience that, over the last 246 years, North Carolinians — “our friends and our neighbors at the polls” — have seen “great changes” and accomplished “Herculean tasks” in our election processes. He shared that over 7 million voters were currently registered and all of them would be able to vote “fairly, safely, and securely” should they choose.
Nagy spoke briefly of the changes surely coming in the county as the result of the increased job opportunities and economic development in the county and nearby.
“All of you are here because you are interested in democracy,” he said. “More so than ever, the decisions you make, regardless of what direction you vote, are important. The people we put into these offices are going to be making very important decisions for all of us.”
He then introduced the group of panelists on the stage. While the panelists varied in their ages, parties, occupations and style of discussion, the message was clear throughout the evening: voting anomalies are rare in North Carolina and voting is safe, secure, and “with checks and balances every step of the way,” Grimes emphasized.
She and Devore had an obvious rapport and a deep respect for each other as members of their board of elections.
“Believe it or not,” Devore said, “we agree mostly on everything when it comes to voting.”
Grimes laughingly told the audience, “I tell people this all of the time. In order for an election to be stolen or fraudulent, all of the election employees — and all of the partisan folks and the nonpartisan folks — would have to be in cahoots with each other. And that’s just impossible. It would never happen.”
Nagy presented a 15-minute video from Torry Crass, Chief Information Security Officer for the North Carolina State Board of Elections. This portion of the meeting focused on cybersecurity.
Part of what was shared regarding cybersecurity was an emphasis on the fact that “In North Carolina, all voters use paper ballots. Per state law, electronic voting equipment such as scan tabulators cannot be connected to the internet. Period,” Cox said.
He explained that “every single polling place is running their own election. It is decentralized, and under strict nonpartisan supervision. It is a good thing.”
Nagy asked several questions that had been submitted by the audience. Myths were debunked regarding thumb drives, Russian hacking, the types of machines used, ballot harvesting and the lack of safety in absentee voting.
The panel also discussed the recent inundation of public records requests to boards of elections; the future of elections; the redistricting and voter ID cases that are both pending in N.C. Supreme Court; the continuing need for poll workers; and the rigorous checks-and-balances to protect each vote.
“These are rules and laws that both parties are in agreement with,” Morris said.
Last week, Elections Director Towanna Dixon emphasized in a meeting with the Board of Commissioners that Moore County strictly follows all state Board of Elections security recommendations and that election staff are mandated to take information security training classes. The tabulation machines are also tested for accuracy prior to use, and bipartisan trained officials from the local community work together to ensure election security.
Ballots in Moore County are also counted in a three-way audit. Following each election, the local board of elections conducts a hand-count of two randomly selected precincts to ensure accuracy.
The Tuesday evening event ended with both Roberts and Orr encouraging residents to get involved in their local election administration, share the information learned tonight and most importantly to vote.
“You know in your heart,” Orr said, “how important this part of democracy is.”
For more information contact nctrustedelections.com.
Sam Hudson can be reached at (678) 577-6183 or sam@thepilot.com.
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