Elections & Public Integrity
We advocate for election and government integrity, investigate possible violations of election laws, and track threats to government integrity and to civilized public debate.
Elections Board To Make Squishy Voter ID Law Even Squishier
The North Carolina State Board of Elections (SBE) held a public hearing on proposed voter ID rules on December 13. The proposed rules are for in-person (08 NCAC 17 .0101)…
Redistricting Lawsuit Arrives a Day Late and a Dollar Short
As expected, the Elias Law Group has filed a lawsuit (Williams v. Hall) challenging some of North Carolina’s new congressional districts. As if they realized how unlikely they were to…
Plaintiffs Request Gingles All the Way in Senate Redistricting Case
A legal challenge to the state Senate maps was filed just before the Thanksgiving holiday last week, questioning the state’s compliance with the Voting Rights Act. With candidate filing set…
Elections Board Agrees to Partially Follow Law on Registration IDs
Election officials have been deviating from state and federal voter registration laws for two decades. A citizen complaint forced the North Carolina State Board of Elections (SBE) to start complying,…
Shrinking Violets: Where Are the Redistricting Lawsuits?
Redistricting lawsuits are common in North Carolina. The General Assembly’s redistricting page is littered with maps that courts have tossed out (click on “District Plans Enacted or Ordered by the…
Appeals Court Disallows Private Action under the Voting Rights Act
Appeals Court Prohibits Private Action under the Voting Rights Act In a case with potentially enormous ramifications for North Carolina elections, the United States 8th District Court of Appeals upheld…
Now That We’re Done with Redistricting, Let’s Talk About Redistricting Reform
With the next scheduled round of redistricting eight years away, now is the best time to talk about redistricting reform. Following traditional redistricting criteria more strictly and making the “Stephenson…
North Carolina’s Congressional Maps Should Avoid Splitting Our Largest Cities
What should we value more when it comes to map drawing: that a district be drawn to represent a community of interest or which party may have an advantage in…
Policy Pizza: Election Security and Data
This week on Policy Pizza, we linked up with Jim Stirling, a Research Fellow at Locke’s Civitas Center for Public Integrity. Jim’s primary focus for the Center for Public Integrity…
When It Comes To Redistricting, What Does “Fair” Actually Mean?
Some things are perennially certain in life. My son’s desire to stay up past his bedtime, the beauty of the Blue Ridge Parkway during autumn, and North Carolina’s protracted redistricting…
Stephenson Ruling Does not Require Racially Polarized Voting Analysis
Legislators disagreed during North Carolina’s recent round of redistricting on whether the General Assembly had to conduct a racially polarized voting analysis. This raises at least two questions. The first…
What are the Partisan leanings of North Carolina’s Proposed Legislative Maps?
October 26 Update: The General Assembly ratified amended versions of Senate Bill 758 and House Bill 898 on October 25. The changes are mostly minor and do not change the…