Chop Wood, Carry NC 7/22
Hey North Carolina,
On July 17, North Carolina held more than 70 ‘Good Trouble Lives On’ events! The protests got very little national news coverage, despite the 1500+ events around the country. We are not going anywhere!
The summer is hot and voter suppression is getting hotter in North Carolina!
NEW THREATS TO VOTING RIGHTS!
An anti-voting bill is brewing in the state legislature (HB 958). It will make it illegal for Boards of Election to promote voting. It also creates new voting barriers for military and overseas voters and bans ranked choice voting. The NC Board of Elections Director will have authority to replace staff with political appointees.
On top of that, the GOP is already purging local Boards of Election of non-MAGA Republicans and replacing them with MAGA accolytes!
NEW VOTER SUPPRESSION IS HAPPENING NOW! The NC Board of Elections now requires that over 100,000 registered voters provide additional identifying information. They call it Registration Repair. Anyone who does not update their registration will be asked to vote provisionally. And we know how that goes. You can not count on provisional ballots being accepted!
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Join a conversation about the Voting Rights Act with Heather Cox Richardson and Justice Anita Earls, organized by our own Bull City Indivisible, on Wednesday, 7/23 at 5 pm. Sign up here.
Join a NC Voter Defense webinar with the NC Democrats and Anita Earls on Wednesday 7/30 at 6pm. Learn what’s in the works to fight back. Sign up here even if you can’t attend, because I suspect the follow up email will include information about how to take action.
WHAT CAN YOU DO NOW?
Search to see if you or someone you know is on the list of people required to ‘repair’ their registrations: Registration name search. Instructions for repairing your registration can be found here: How to repair registrationWake County Indivisible is contacting everyone in their county who is affected. Hopefully activists in other counties will do the same!
If you’re looking for something else, consider making phone calls, canvassing, registering voters and helping folks get photo IDs. For details, see Everyday Election Activism: The Opportunities
That’s it for now. Hope you’re staying cool and sane!
Jess and Marilyn (NC partner) + Andrea who helps with state newsletters