(The Center Square) – North Carolina’s election system, under new guidance from the auditor’s office, will get a new system of checks and balances for voter integrity modeled at least in part after Florida.
Republican first-term Auditor Dave Boliek, speaking at his party’s state convention on Saturday night in Greensboro, said, “For the election, I am announcing today that we will have a 100% audit prior to canvassing. I know it can be done. I just came from Florida, and they did it in Florida.
“It’ll be a pilot program we’ll roll out in the next several days.”
Issues with the state following laws created in the Legislature were exposed in the aftermath of Nov. 5, primarily by the contested results of race for Seat 6 on the North Carolina Supreme Court. Allison Riggs, a Democrat, eventually prevailed over Republican Jefferson Griffin by 734 votes out of more than 5.5 million cast.
Board of elections decisions and court rulings meandered through Wake County Superior Court, the state Court of Appeals, the state Supreme Court, and the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. Partisan decisions were the norm rather than the exception all along the way, from the five-member State Board of Elections – then three Democrats, two Republicans – to the various court panels and singular judges.
Griffin had six protests that, initially, spread about 60,000 to 65,000 ballots. The protests included lawfully providing a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number; overseas voters who have never lived in the United States, much less North Carolina; and absentee ballot requirements to include voting by mail and failing to provide photo identification.
Along the way through multiple court rulings, State Supreme Court Justice Richard Dietz in an April 11 ruling dissented – much to the surprise of many – by saying Griffin’s challenge wasn’t justified going backward. Rather, the questions he raised “should be resolved in a declaratory judgment action seeking relief that would apply in future elections,” Dietz wrote.
Andy Jackson, respected politico of state elections and director of the Civitas Center for Public Integrity at the conservative-leaning John Locke Foundation, wrote last month, “Jefferson Griffin’s challenge of his election loss has resulted in victories that will make North Carolina’s elections more secure.”
Griffin conceded 184 days after Election Day.
Boliek, planning to have county election boards switched to Republican chairmanships and majorities by June 24, said confidence in election integrity is being sought.
In Florida, hand-marked ballots and optical scanners are used in polling places. Manual and automated audits handle ballots from Election Day, by mail, early in-person voting, provisionals, and overseas ballots.
Alaska is recognized as the fastest to certify canvassed results. There, it happens the day after Election Day. Florida and North Carolina are also considered among the quickest in turnaround, and Florida in particular to post unofficial results. Generally recognized as the most lengthy in the process are California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada.
