The NC State Board of Elections is currently in session, passing judgement on the dozens of County Board of Elections’ racially discriminatory early voting plans which have been contested by those boards’ minority Democratic members (each county board is 2 Rs and 1 D). Here I’ll provide a little color commentary on each of the State Board’s decisions as they happen. I’m not actually attending the meeting; just relying on WRAL’s Mark Binker’s tweets (@binker).
The story so far:
Rockingham County’s Republican plan adopted by state board on a 3-2 party-line vote. It’s actually not a bad plan, but then Rockingham County (home to the largest KKK offshoot in the US) is as white as it gets.
Another party-line vote, approving Randolph County’s Republican plan, which increases 2012’s 3 polling places to 4 and ups total EV hours somewhat. But the rejected Dem plan provided many more hours, plus Sunday ‘Souls to the Polls’ hours which the prevailing R plan lacked. Because black churches, dontcha know.
The Board approved the Democratic minority’s plan for Hoke County, which cuts Sunday voting hours in half from 2012 (the Republican majority plan abolished Sunday voting entirely). Very slightly increased weekday and Saturday hours, with the same total number of sites as 2012.
Randolph BOE member McNaulty says he was "accused of being a traitor" by local Republicans when he supported Sunday voting. #ncpol #wral— mark binker (@binker) September 8, 2016
Randolph BOE member McNaulty says he was "accused of being a traitor" by local Republicans when he supported Sunday voting. #ncpol #wral
The board is back from its potty break, and taking up Lenoir County. Here the Republicans’ plan was notorious, slashing total sites from 2 in 2012 to just 1 in 2016 (requiring 45-minute one-way driving times for many residents). Lenoir is an impoverished county with a near-majority black population.
And, oh yeah: Lenoir Republicans’ plan slashed Early Voting hours by 75% from 2012. WRAL’s Mark Binker says the Lenoir Repubs and Dem have come up with a new “unity plan.” Which probably means a 50% reduction instead of 75%?? We’ll see.
WRAL’s Binker tweets that Lenoir’s “unity plan” was approved by the State Board, but doesn’t bother to tell us anything about that plan. Now that’s reporting. Jeebus.
Richmond County’s plan is now on the block. Only the county board’s Dem member showed up; I guess the Rs figured the fix was in, so why bother driving all the way to Raleigh?
While I still don't know the details of the Lenoir Co. “unity plan,” I have to say it was a dumb move on the Dem member’s part to join in w/ the Repubs. The R’s plan was so onerous and so blatantly discriminatory that even the R-dominated State Board was damn unlikely to approve it. Dem settles for half-a-loaf when he could have had the whole thing?
Richmond County’s majority (R) plan ups sites from 3 in 2012 to 4 in 2016, but cuts total voting hours by about 5% and does away with last cycle’s Sunday voting hours entirely (Woodhouse Rules: suppress the black church vote).
Binker flubs the reporting again. Says Richmond’s D board member “seeking 3 additional Sunday voting hours.” In fact, he’s just trying to save 2012’s total of 3 Sunday hours. Be still my heart.
On a rare split-party vote (4-to-1) SBOE adopts the Dem’s plan, preserving a total of 3 Sunday voting hours. Guess the fellers down at the Richmond County Republican’s club house should’a showed up to support their plan. Probably afraid of getting egged.
Board now considering Duplin County. This tiny county gets only 1 EV site in both D and R plans (same as 2012), but the R plan cuts total EV hours by 10%, while the D plan boosts by 50%. That dog won’t hunt.
No Sunday hours in either Richmond plan. You thought maybe otherwise? You ain’t from around here, are ya boy?
In North Carolina you can buy a gun or a bottle of hooch on Sunday. But the Good Lord don’t countenance no dang votin’ on the Sabbath!
WRAL’s Binker appears to be bored out of his skull at the State Board of Elections meeting. Would probably rather be covering a story about a puppy, or something that bleeds, or maybe a bleeding puppy. Yeah, that’s it. That’s the ticket!
Binker is really phoning it in now, doesn’t even bother to tell us which Duplin plan won:
.@NCSBE sorts out Duplin unanimously. On to Pamlico. #wral #ncpol— mark binker (@binker) September 8, 2016
.@NCSBE sorts out Duplin unanimously. On to Pamlico. #wral #ncpol
While we’re waiting for Binker to wake up, here’s what Pamlico County early voting looked like in
2012: 1 site, 149 total hours, 29 weekend hours, no Sunday hours.
2016 R plan: 1 site, 120 total hours, 5 weekend hours. Because voting is so over-rated.
Pamlico’s 2016 minority D plan: 1 site, 139 total hours, 15 weekend hours. No Sunday hours in either plan. Uh-uh. No sir, no how.
Praise Jeebus: the Board just approved Pamlico’s minority D plan. Which is still a cut in hours, because that’s how we do.
Says me:
@binker Jeebus, Binker, it's called "reporting." Which Duplin plan won? Don't make me google this.— insightus (@InsightusOrg) September 8, 2016
@binker Jeebus, Binker, it's called "reporting." Which Duplin plan won? Don't make me google this.
Board approves Pamlico Dems’ plan, which Binker thinks “extends hours” but actually cuts them less. Watching this man report is like watching an orphanage on fire; it’s horrible, but you just can’t look away.
Binker is WRAL’s “investigative data journalist.” As an investigative data journalist myself, I find that designation offensive. Guy probably has his password written on a Post-It on his CRT monitor.
Switching to @democracync’s live tweet coverage. Just can’t take Binker any more. DNC says my favorite lady, 96 year-old Rosanell Eaton in in the gallery. She was the lead plaintiff in NC-NAACP v McCrory, which overturned NC’s voter suppression law. She’s so beautiful I kinda cry every time I see her.
SBOE approves a bipartisan Robeson plan which preserves Sunday voting. The lone dissenting R wanted to shutter the Pembroke EV site, because (presumably) colored folk.
On to Montgomery County’s plan. Majority R plan has just one site (of 3) open for the first week of EV. Minority D plan has ‘em all open. Both plans boost total voting hours over 2012, but the D plan more so. Hours don’t really matter if the only voting site is too far away for you to get to.
Montgomery’s majority R plan is approved, with just 1 site open in the county for the first week of voting. Dems go fish. Pffft.
The board is really moving along at a good clip. Quite the deliberative process...not. You’ve heard of speed dating? This is speed voter suppression.
On to Edgecombe County.
2012: 4 sites, 516 hours, 36 Sunday hours.
2016 R plan: 4 sites, 485 hours, no Sundays.
2016 minority D plan: 6 sites, 805 hours, no Sundays.
Says me: this one’s a foregone conclusion. No way in hell we fail to cut hours.
Dem suggests a compromise on hours, but still wants 6 sites. You go, girl. Distance-to-poll matters. If she can get 6 sites plus the same or more hours in 2016, its a big win.
Still waiting on an Edgecombe decision. @democracync says “hardcore math is happening,” which I presume means the R majority has taken off their shoes and socks to make more digits available for counting on.
Gotta go feed the horses. Back in a few.
Jeez...neither @democracync nor @binker will tell us what happened w/ Edgecombe. On to New Hanover. I’ll look into it.
New Hanover plans by the numbers:
2012: 5 sites, 500 hours, no Sundays.
2016 R plan: 5 sites, 572 hours, no Sundays.
2016 D plan: 5 sites, 605 hours, 14 Sunday hours. Not a chance of that.
Great stat from Democracy NC:
80% of New Hanover voters live in super-sized precincts (precincts with 3000+ voters.) Lines may be inevitable. Early Voting helps. #sboemtg— Democracy NC (@democracync) September 8, 2016
80% of New Hanover voters live in super-sized precincts (precincts with 3000+ voters.) Lines may be inevitable. Early Voting helps. #sboemtg
SBOE adopts the majority R New Hanover plan with an extra 2 whole hours of voting tacked on. No Sundays. Day-um.
Ah; debate on the Edgecombe plan took a sidebar, which is why I couldn’t figure out what happened. Minority D is suggesting a cut to the hours in her plan (still above 2012 though). Hope she holds out for all sites.
Wake County is now up. This is a big deal, folks. Wake is the 2nd largest county in the state, with 700K voters and a substantial African American community. The R plan for Wake adds a few symbolic hours over 2012, the D plan adds a lot. Wake has grown by about 7% in the past 4 years IIRC. Rs cut Sunday voting from 92 hrs to 84. Ds increase it to 116. Another fight over Sundays that we’re prolly not gonna win.
There is no free parking anywhere near the downtown Raleigh Wake County EV sites. Ya gotta pay to vote, or else walk.
Rs want to pack almost all of the Wake Co early voting into the second week. D wants both weeks to be equally active.
Wake Co BOE’s director acknowledges that the majority R plan can’t handle the 10K early voters per day seen in 2012. “It can’t work.”
Still no decision on the Edgecombe plan negotiations. Sure hope the Dem sticks like a true Tar Heel.
WOO-HOO!!! Democracy wins in Edgecombe County! D sticks to her guns and wins a 50% increase in total number of sites across the county (shortening voters’ distance-to-poll), gives up half the hours increase in her original plan (still an increase over 2012). It’s a win-win for our side! Sure wish we had more fighting Dems on county Boards of Elections.
A hollow victory on Wake County: Board votes 3-2 for a hybrid plan which opens just 9 of 20 sites for first week of EV (the majority R plan allowed just 1 site the first week), but aside from that went w/ the majority R plan. Call this one a loss for our side. Nine sites will not support high voter turnout. Wake County will keep us up all night, and maybe into the morning after election day, wondering what happened in North Carolina. There will be huge lines, and folks giving up and going home without voting. Damn, that hurts.
And on that downer note, I’m wrapping up here. Overall, things are much as we predicted in our recent Insightus blog post: in the cases that really matter a lot, the State Board has made little cosmetic changes to the R plans to reduce the obviousness of the discrimination. But it’s still there. And the fix is still in. Pray for us, America.
Y’all take care now, hear?