NCGA’s Electoral “Reforms” Cheat Independent Voters

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 26, 2024 (RALEIGH) – The Libertarian Party of North Carolina (LPNC) Chair Ryan Brown today criticized changes to election law included a bill passed by the NC General Assembly last week as “blatantly unfair” to independent voters.

“There are more independent voters in North Carolina than registered Democrats or Republicans,” stated Brown. “But it is still impossible to appoint an independent voter to the Board of Elections.”

The NC Board of Elections (NCSBE) makes important decisions, including determining which political parties are officially recognized to nominate candidates for office, selecting which voting machines can be used in NC, collecting and reviewing campaign finance reports, specifying what types of photo IDs can be used to vote, resolving voting and candidate eligibility issues, and certifying elections.

“Denying 38 percent of the electorate any say in these important electoral decisions is blatantly unfair,” Brown continued. “The NCGA took up consideration of this law last week, but instead of fixing the problem, all they did was transfer the power to cheat independent voters from the governor to the state auditor.”

“Election administration should be nonpartisan, as it is in most other states,” added LPNC Candidate Coordinator Eric Parker. “By affording the Democrats and Republicans direct control, we consign ourselves to a never-ending farce, like what happened with Kennedy and ballot access earlier this year.”

In June, the Democratic-controlled NCSBE voted 3-2 along party lines to deny the We the People party official recognition, thus keeping Robert Kennedy, Jr. off the Presidential ballot. This was despite the fact that the party had submitted petitions with more than sufficient validated signatures for voters qualifying it. Some observers accused the NCSBE of keeping Kennedy off the ballot for fear he would siphon off votes from the Democratic Presidential candidate. A month later, facing the prospect of being overruled by the Republican-dominated state Supreme Court, the NCSBE relented, and officially recognized We the People.

Then, in August, Kennedy suspended his own campaign for President, endorsed Donald Trump, and requested that his name be removed from the ballot in NC. By another party line vote, the NCSBE voted 3-2 to keep Kennedy on the ballot. Some observers speculated that this time the NCSBE was motivated by the calculation that removing Kennedy from the ballot would help Trump. Again, the decision was appealed and in October, the Republican-controlled NC Supreme Court ruled that Kennedy’s name would be removed.

“Now, the establishment parties are playing a political game of Whac-A-Mole,” Parker continued. “The Republicans lost the gubernatorial race, so they want to move the power to appoint the NCSBE from the Governor to the State Auditor, a newly elected Republican. What if a Democrat wins the State Auditor race in 2028? Will they move the power of appointing Board of Election members to the Agriculture Commissioner?”

“I appreciate that asking the establishment parties to surrender the power to control election administration is tilting at a political windmill,” concluded Brown. “But it’s not unreasonable to demand that they stop cheating independent voters out of a say in important electoral matters.”

For media inquiries or further information, please contact Rob Yates at [email protected].

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Libertarian Party of North Carolina
Libertarian Party of North Carolina (lpnc.org)

Ryan Brown
LPNC Chair
Libertarian Party of North Carolina
Ryan.B[email protected]

Rob Yates
Communications Director and Acting Press Secretary
Libertarian Party of North Carolina
[email protected]