Commission Releases New Study On Elections System Security In North Carolina

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – If you ask voters if they have faith in the elections system, you’ll get a mixed bag of answers:

“Yes, definitely.”
“I think so. I’ve never had any reason not to.”
“I feel it’s safe and secure, I believe it.”
“No…there’s (sic) too many things have happened with the machines in the past.”
“No.”

A cross-partisan 60 member commission recently released a 104 page report of its findings on election security in North Carolina. 29 percent of likely voters in the Tar Heel state lack faith in the elections system. But, after studying topics like voter access and registration, ballot security and cyber security, the commission found that North Carolina elections are administered securely, with slight improvements recommended.

“North Carolina really is as good as it gets around the country when it comes to election administration,” says Bob Orr. He is co-chair of the NC Network for Fair, Safe and Secure Elections. Former Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts is the other chair. She says, “We all want to see peaceful elections and we all want to accept whatever happens in November.”

One of the topics the commission says needs further investigation is voter ID. It found the process and consistency of application of voter ID requirements is not as straightforward and uniform as it could be. This fall will be the first time in a presidential election that North Carolina has had voter ID. Roberts says the commission wants to see how it goes. She says, “What is the experience going to be this fall?”

North Carolina has more than 7.5 million registered voters. More than 5 million are expected to vote this November. Whoever you vote for, it’s important everyone understands, and trusts the system. Orr says, “We had republican and democrat election board members who would say, we don’t agree on anything about politics, but we agree on fair, safe and secure elections.”

Roberts tells WCCB a recent concern about ballots came up when Joe Biden dropped out of the race, and Kamala Harris became the presumptive democratic nominee. Roberts said people wondered if ballots had already been printed. Roberts says ballots for North Carolina are not printed until August.