Click image to see details on the 2014-15 version, HB 100.
Aug 27, 2017 (RALEIGH) While finishing my paper for this week’s presentation in San Francisco, at the national convention of the American Political Science Association, I came across the news that one particular Florida Supervisor of Elections is already doing what North Carolina’s state Senate seems hesitant to require our election officials to do: Get non-citizen voters off the rolls.
Three times… in 2013, 2015 and 2017, Voter Integrity Project has advocated for a corrective legislative measure in this area, but certain bi-partisan forces have constantly fought the bill in the NC Senate, where it has died twice. for the third session in a row, the bill passed the NC House. This year’s version, House Bill 29, passed the lower chamber with bi-partisan support, but it languishes under the watchful eye of Senator Phil Berger. He has let it die for five years and counting.
Meanwhile Florida leads in this common-sense reform. According to the July 31, 2017 (Florida) Sun Sentinel…
The [Broward County] elections office began receiving jury recusal information this year from the Broward clerk of courts about residents who filed forms saying they could not serve on a jury because they were either a non-citizen or a convicted felon, [County Supervisor of Elections, Brenda] Snipes said. The elections office can cross-reference that information against its voter rolls to see if any are voters that should be removed for the same reasons.”
To be clear, Snipes is NO friend of election integrity. For reasons far beyond the scope of this post, our Florida counterparts have fought long (and losing) battles with her over purging the voter rolls of people living (and voting) from mail box kiosks, business addresses, and vacant lots. She refuses to comply with these peasants at Florida Voter Integrity Project.
In fact, our side has had so much trouble with her cavalier attitude that the American Civil Rights Union has her in federal court. So, in order to mitigate a bad loss in that lawsuit, she has suddenly seen the light and is taking pro-active common-sense measures to clean up her act… and the Broward County voter rolls.
Okay… I’ve got a paper to finish, so I leave you with one simple question:
Why is the NCGOP using State Senator, Phil Berger, to block HB 100, a bill that helps election officials get non-US citizens off North Carolina’s voter rolls?
~ jd
