1 Boring Old Man

N.C. pressed on voter listings
State, feds say rolls out of date, push changes; official says no need

State and federal officials are mounting two broad challenges to the way North Carolina maintains its voter rolls, charging widespread irregularities that include votes cast under the names of dead people.

The accusations attempt to call into question the accuracy of registration records and election returns from 2004 to the present.

So far, though, the officials have not made public any evidence of irregularities, and N.C. election officials argue that the state’s maintenance of voter rolls is among the most careful and comprehensive programs in the country.

The dispute comes amid growing national attention to suspected voter fraud. The U.S. Justice Department has devoted more resources to that area — a decision that voting advocates say could disproportionately affect minorities and the poor ahead of the 2008 election.

In a letter two months ago, the Justice Department said it was reviewing North Carolina’s voter rolls and that it found irregularities in the number of people registered to vote. Similar reviews have led to lawsuits against election officials in seven other states, including Georgia.

The second broad challenge is from State Auditor Les Merritt, whose office began a review of the state’s voter rolls in January.

His staff presented preliminary findings to the State Board of Elections last week. According to the board, Merritt’s staff cited 24,821 invalid driver’s license numbers in the voter registration database, 380 people who appear to have voted after their dates of death and others who were under age 18 when they voted.

Gary Bartlett, executive director of the elections board, responded Wednesday with a stinging 10-page letter declaring many of the findings invalid. He accused Merritt’s office of misleading the elections board and of rejecting its help.

"(Y)our office appears to have a fundamental misunderstanding about the data that was reviewed or about the federal and State laws governing the voter registration process," Bartlett wrote in the letter, which he provided to lawmakers Thursday.

For example, Bartlett said, many of the people who appear to have voted after their dates of death voted absentee and then died prior to Election Day. At least some people under 18 who voted did so legally, Bartlett said, because state law allows 17-year-olds to vote in a primary election if they will be 18 the day of the general election.

Bartlett said the state’s regular maintenance of voter rolls resulted in 725,499 names removed during a recent 19-month period. Most had been inactive, moved or died.

Merritt’s office declined to provide the Observer with a copy of its findings Thursday, saying it is adjusting them based on Bartlett’s objections.

"This is a typical process we do in refining our findings," said Merritt spokesman Chris Mears.

The dispute has drawn the attention of leading state lawmakers. In an unusual move and citing only "sensitive information," Merritt used the review to persuade lawmakers last week to delay consideration of a bill that would make voting easier.

A two pronged attack alleging voter fraud coming from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Republican State Auditor is plenty suspect in 2007. It is remarkable that this kind of thing is continuing in the face of the scandal at the Department of Justice resulting in mass resignations over this very issue [Karl Rove is an Energizer Bunny]. The U.S. Attorney in Eastern North Carolina is George E. B. Holding. He was appointed in June 2006 when then U.S. Attorney Frank Whitney was elevated to a Federal Judgeship.Holding was Senate Confirmed. It is notable, however, that Holding was appointed in the year, 2006, when there was a push to get "Bushies" in place in the U.S. Attorney offices.