There's been much press today about a New York Time article http://www.nytimes.com/... alleging North Carolina is one of a number of states that may not be following federal laws on voter registration.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections has just put out a press release rebutting the allegations, I've excerpted some of it below the fold. The long and short, NC is making so many requests for SSN verification because the huge surge in registration is bringing in huge numbers who have no drivers licenses, the SSN is used to VERIFY voter registration, rather than deny it, so those voters will then NOT have to bring ID to the polls. BTW, Harnett County mentioned in the release is a county suburban to Raleigh, with a population of just 106,000 the 1000+ new voters this week shows the huge amount of voter registration going on in NC.
http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/...
http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/...
PRESS RELEASE – October 8, 2008
CONTACT: Gary O. Bartlett, Executive Director
In today’s New York Times, reprinted in The News and Observer, a story appeared about voter registration that lumped North Carolina in with other states that were allegedly followingincorrect procedures that might prejudice voters in the November elections. Although no specific irregularities were mentioned with respect to North Carolina, the articles contend that voters here may be disenfranchised. This is simply untrue. No reporter for either publication contacted any one in this office to verify North Carolina’sprocedures. Nor did the Commissioner of the Social SecurityAdministration contact us before he
released his allegations that North Carolina may be preventing voters from registering; instead he sent a letter to the Secretary of State, who does not administer elections in North Carolina, and
we had to obtain a copy from a national organization.
The problem with these stories is they undermine the public’s confidence in North Carolina’s elections. Our processes have been reviewed by both major presidential campaigns, reviewed and precleared by the U.S. Department of Justice, and by independent advocacy organizations
such as Democracy North Carolina. These are the processes we use to assure every qualified voter is permitted to register and vote in this State:
The Social Security number Match is only one of the tools we use to verify a voter’s identity. Applicants to register to vote are asked to provide their driver’s license number, and if they do
not have one, then the last four digits of their Social Security number. Pursuant to an agreement between the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles and the Social Security Administration, an applicant’s information is automatically processed to verify the numbers provided by the voter. The State of North Carolina reimburses the Social Security Administration for each verification transaction. The vast majority of voters are verified by their driver’s license number.
This office is well aware that the Social Security database was never intended to be used for this type of identification process – but it was mandated by Help America Vote Act and implemented in North Carolina. It is a tool for those voters who do not have North Carolina driver’s license
numbers. However, if a voter registers and their information is incomplete or the number or numbers they provide do not match, there are several safeguards in place to assure that no qualified voter is disenfranchised. The person’s name is put into our computer database, but flagged that
identification or other information is needed. If time permits, counties contact the applicant to
obtain the missing information before the election. If the applicant appears to vote in an election
before their identification has been verified, they may produce any of a variety of types of
identification and vote. Alternatively, they can vote a provisional ballot and it will be counted if
the missing information is provided by the day before the canvass of the election.
These news articles also imply that North Carolina’s list maintenance procedures have
impermissibly removed voters. North Carolina strictly follows the requirements of state and
federal law in conducting list maintenance to remove from the voter rolls at regular intervals
those persons who have died, been convicted of a felony and have not had their citizenship rights restored, or who have moved out of the voting jurisdiction, i.e., the county in North Carolina. To
assure that a voter is not removed through administrative errors, all names are kept in the voter
registration database. A voter who has moved may be allowed to vote a regular ballot if he or she
has simply failed to report a move within a county, or to provide other missing information that
will be researched by the county and to vote a provisional ballot that will be counted if their
qualifications are verified.
North Carolina will add approximately 850,000 new voters to its rolls by November 1, a record
growth in voter registration. It is not surprising that the Social Security Administration has
processed nearly 400,000 requests for verification since October 1, 2007.
The Social Security Administration plans to take down its computer system during the Columbus
Day federal holiday to do routine maintenance. This office protested taking down the system for
two days when our deadline for voter registration by mail is October 10. In anticipation of this
shutdown, Sherre Toler, the Director of Elections in Harnett County, sorted voter registration
applications awaiting processing into several groups. In light of today’s articles, you might find
these numbers interesting –
1001 registrations awaiting processing
307 contain last four digits of their SSN
439 contain driver’s license number only
228 contain both SSN and driver’s license number
27 contain no identifying number
Harnett County, like many in North Carolina, has large numbers of college students, military
families and older citizens. These are precisely the groups that may not have a North Carolina
driver’s license but do have a Social Security Number. Thus, they have a high number of
applicants who provide only that information. (We recognize that some applicants will choose to
provide only their Social Security Number when they do have a valid driver’s license; this does not render their application invalid.)
Today’s articles have undermined the public’s trust in North Carolina’s election administration.
We want to provide any and all information that will restore that confidence.
UPDATE:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/...
RALEIGH, N.C. North Carolina's elections chief lashed out at a report Thursday that suggested the state had misused a Social Security Administration database to purge voters from the state's registration rolls.
Gary Bartlett, the director of the State Board of Elections, said it was "simply untrue" that some qualified voters in North Carolina could be disenfranchised.
.....
Officials in Colorado and Michigan also questioned the validity of the Times' story.
The Times stood by its story. .....
Bartlett said North Carolina officials check the validity of both a driver's license and a Social Security number if the registrant provides both, which he believes is allowed under federal law. He said the board plans to streamline the process after this year's election so that the state won't run a Social Security check if the driver's license alone validates the registrant's identity.
He also said many of the state's 700,000 new registrations may have come from people with out-of-state driver's licenses, and therefore listed their Social Security number to confirm their identity. He said others may have simply chosen to provide their Social Security number instead of their driver's license number on registration paperwork.
Barlett added the lack of a Social Security number match does not lead officials to remove voters from the rolls. He said voters in question can confirm their identity on Election Day or, as a last resort, vote with a provisional ballot and confirm their identity later.
.....
Bob Hall, who heads the advocacy group Democracy North Carolina, defended the elections board and called the Times story "reprehensible."
"Editors and election watchdogs ... need to understand and examine the voter registration process in North Carolina before they question its validity and make claims about its deficiencies," Hall said.
Hall said he's found that many voter registration forms are incomplete or partly illegible, and many prospective voters provide a Social Security number instead of driver's license number. Therefore, he said it's not surprising the state would need to run so many verifications through the Social Security Administration database.
Hall said he's worried the story might incite fear when there's nothing to worry about.
"What we don't need are inflammatory stories about stolen elections or cheated voters that have no basis in fact," Hall said.