Articles

Voter registration is an essential part of making elections secureA loophole in North Carolina’s same-day registration law allowed ballots from people who were not legally registered to vote to be countedThe General Assembly closed that loophole in 2023, a change that survived a 2024 court challenge This is part of a series of articles about...

Mail voting is convenient for some voters but comes with security risksAccepting local mail ballots after election day caused confusion and protests at election board meetingsNorth Carolina now requires most mail ballots to be submitted by election day, but security concerns remain This is part of a series of articles about problems with the 2020...

Private election funding gives private groups the “power of the purse” over boards of elections — potentially giving them the ability to alter election outcomes based on how they target their spendingThere is evidence of partisan intent and effect of Zuck bucks spending on select county election administration in North Carolina and elsewhereNorth Carolina now...

Collusive lawsuit settlements harm the public when used to overturn lawsThe State Board of Elections entered a collusive lawsuit in 2020 to alter election lawsA federal judge limited the damage of the 2020 collusive settlement, and a state law passed in 2021 should make such settlements impossible This is part of a series of articles...

Elon Musk and a PAC affiliated with him were at the center of controversy in several swing states, including North Carolina, after failing to register voters in at least four swing states last week. David Weeler, a Democrat, filed a complaint with the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) against the America PAC on...

(Picture of Cornel West is Creative Commons by Gage Skidmore.) A pair of court cases concluded on August 12 confirmed that two new parties can be officially recognized and on the ballot in November. Neither case should have required a court ruling, highlighting the need to reform how new parties are certified by the North...

It has begun. All three of the “big three” registrations in North Carolina (Democrats, Republicans, and unaffiliated) had a larger-than-usual net rise in voter registrations during the last full week of July (July 21-28): Democrats: +443Republicans: +2,063Unaffiliated: +3,499 While the rise in Democratic registrations may seem small, it is worth noting that they have a...

Below is a copy of my written testimony to the North Carolina House Oversight and Reform Committee on the North Carolina State Board’s recent decision to certify the Constitution and We the People parties while not certifying the Justice for All Party. It is substantially the same as the spoken testimony I provided to the...

(This post was made possible with research by Thomas Allen.) I wrote on July 3 about how North Carolina’s electorate has changed since the 2020 election. There were three main takeaways: Democrat registrations have declined a lot (a net loss of 219,230 registrations from November 3, 2020, to June 23, 2024), Republican registrations have increased...

North Carolina is experiencing rapid political shifts, which means that the state is politically different from what it was just four years ago. Rapid Registration Shifts Statewide As seen at the John Locke Foundation’s Voter Registration Changes page, those changes can be summarized as: Democrat registrations have declined a lot (a net loss of 219,230...

The recent injection of campaign finance law changes into the HB237 conference report has garnered massive attention from both the media and the public. Many of them are unfamiliar with the nuances of the states’ laws governing donations from 527s (your typical political party committee/ type of political action committee) or the various types of...

The literacy test should be removed from the North Carolina State ConstitutionRemoving the literacy test may be difficultThose favoring literacy test repeal must act strategically to ensure its passage The North Carolina State Constitution includes a literacy test provision that was specifically used to prevent black people from registering to vote. The General Assembly should...

Below is my prepared public comment before the North Carolina Senate Redistricting and Elections Committee Committee on June 20, 2024, in support of Senate Bill 630 “Constitutional Amendment/Citizens-Only Voting”. “I am Jim Stirling with the John Locke Foundation. I speak in favor of Senate Bill 630, the constitutional amendment for citizens-only voting in North Carolina. ...

The North Carolina Legislature presented the conference report on its masking bill, HB237.  While the bill had garnered some controversy over its broad language banning masks, a recent conference report has arguably become more contentious with campaign finance changes that were inserted into the bill.    The campaign finance changes had not appeared in any...

(Photo of Cornel West by Gage Skidmore.) Three political parties have submitted petitions with more than enough verified signatures to be recognized by the North Carolina State Board of Elections (SBE). If the board recognizes them, they will be able to place candidates on the ballot this November. However, two of those parties are dealing...

Below is my prepared public comment before the North Carolina House Election Law and Campaign Finance Reform Committee on June 5, 2024, in support of House Bill 1074, Constitutional Amendment/Citizens-Only Voting. I am Andy Jackson with the John Locke Foundation. I speak in favor of House Bill 1074, the constitutional amendment for citizens-only voting in...

I noted last week why the North Carolina General Assembly should let a citizen-only voting constitutional amendment come up for a vote of the people: The state constitution should be amended to state clearly that only United States citizens can vote in North Carolina, using language so unambiguous that even ambitious politicians or activist judges...

Only U.S. citizens should be allowed to vote in North Carolina electionsNorth Carolina’s current protection of citizen-only voting is inadequateWe should add a citizen-only voting amendment to the North Carolina State Constitution Who can or cannot vote is a foundational question for a republic. To counter a growing movement to allow noncitizens to vote, North...

Minimizing the number of split counties limits gerrymanderingThe court-imposed Stephenson process restricts the number of county splitsThe Stephenson process should be added to the North Carolina Constitution The North Carolina State Constitution already requires the General Assembly to have as few county splits as possible when drawing state legislative districts. It is time to add...

Early voting for North Carolina’s second primary (commonly referred to as runoffs) begins Thursday, April 25th. All 100 counties will be involved in this year’s second primary due to the two runoff elections for Republicans seeking statewide office. During a second primary election, many of the rules stay the same as they would for a...

A court filing has revealed serious allegations of vote buying in a county commissioner race in the March 5 primary. While shocking, vote buying is hardly new in North Carolina. Allegations of Buying Votes in Robeson County Lacy Cummings, who lost to Sampson in the March 5 Democratic primary 875 to 870, filed the court...

A court filing has revealed serious allegations of vote buying in a county commissioner race in the March 5 primary. While shocking, vote buying is hardly new in North Carolina. Allegations of Buying Votes in Robeson County Lacy Cummings, who lost to Sampson in the March 5 Democratic primary 875 to 870, filed the court...

County boards of elections normally have until midsummer to select early voting sites for the November election and submit their lists to the North Carolina State Board of Elections (SBE). That is a best practice because it gives local officials time to secure locations and confirm that they have enough funding from their county governments...

Congressional districts should be about the communities they represent, not statewide political considerations, and not splitting counties when redistricting keeps communities wholeIt is possible to use county groupings when drawing congressional districtsA sample map demonstrates how using county groupings can help limit gerrymandering Legislative Districts Should Be About Their Local Communities, Not Statewide Political Interests...