Democracy North Carolina

New Campaign Campaigns

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  Stop Voter Suppression in North Carolina!

  Donald Trump has already attempted to use the lie of voter fraud to intimidate voters with his now-defunct commission. Now his administration is using United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina Robert Higdon, an appointee of President Donald Trump, to issue subpoenas on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), requesting massive troves of voter data from state election officials and 44 North Carolina counties. ICE has no role in election administration and this request is clearly designed to intimidate Black and Brown folks in the state, and bury North Carolina’s election officials in paperwork. This massive request would require our elections officials to produce millions of documents, including sensitive voter information — all with weeks to go before elections begin. As State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement attorney Josh Lawson told the assistant U.S. Attorney handling the case, complying with these requests will make it difficult for county officials to prepare for the approaching general election. This request also continues in the tradition of intimidation and bad faith bureaucracy that has become increasingly common in North Carolina. In response, the N.C. State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement has voted to fight back — giving the N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein the green light to challenge this excessive federal overreach designed to interfere with our state's elections and intimidate voters. It's our turn to fight back — add your name to the growing list of North Carolinians demanding United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina Robert Higdon drop these outrageous requests altogether.

  13,788 of 15,000 Signatures

  Created by Jen Jones
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  Tell The North Carolina Board of Elections to Support Early Voting

  Incredible! Republican leaders who complain about “rigged elections” are trying to do exactly that in North Carolina by making it harder for Black people and students to use early voting. Dallas Woodhouse, Executive Director of the NC Republican Party, sent instructions to Republicans who hold the majority on all 100 county boards of elections to “make party line changes to early voting.” He specifically told them to close early voting sites on Sunday, remove them from college campuses, and open more in Republican areas, according to emails obtained by the Raleigh News & Observer. More than half of NC’s voters used early voting in 2008 and 2012; it was used most by Black and young voters. Closing sites and reducing hours will mean longer lines and discourage voters on Election Day. Fortunately, many Republicans are ignoring Woodhouse and obeying their oath to serve all voters. But in Raleigh, Fayetteville, Wilmington, and many other areas, they are opposing Sunday voting where it was used as recently as the March primary. Black churches organize Sunday “Souls to the Polls” programs which help church members with transportation to the polling place. The reduced early voting plans of these counties will come before the State Board of Elections later this month. The State Board has the power to restore them and repudiate the deliberate anti-Black, anti-youth strategy of Republican Party leaders. Sign the petition to ask Mr. Grant Whitney Jr., board chair, and other board members to restore early voting on Sunday afternoons and, on college campuses where those options were eliminated by Republican county election boards. Last month, the federal Court of Appeals overturned a state voting law it said would suppress voting and had discriminatory intent. We will not let local officials ignore the spirit of this momentous ruling by implementing weak and even discriminatory early voting plans for the November election.. Thanks for fighting for voting rights for everyone! Bob Hall, Democracy North Carolina

  3,747 of 4,000 Signatures

  Created by Jen Jones
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  Tell the N.C. Chamber of Commerce: Stand Against Discrimination

  Businesses across the country have spoken out against North Carolina’s HB2, the so-called “bathroom bill.”  But not the N.C. Chamber of Commerce.  Maybe that’s because the Chamber's leadership benefits from provisions hidden inside the law that give bosses a green light to discriminate against African Americans and pay North Carolina workers less than a living wage. HB2 overturns policies that protect North Carolina's lesbian, gay and transgender community, 29% of which is African-American. The new law also overturns local anti-bias ordinances that protect everyone, regardless of race, national origin, age, disability, gender or religion. It bans workers from filing discrimination claims in state court. And it undercuts the ability of local elected officials to guarantee fair treatment for their citizens. In short, it’s a major attack on democracy. It's time to tell S. Lewis Ebert, CEO and President of the N.C. Chamber of Commerce, to join other business leaders and use his influence to call for the repeal of HB2. House Bill 2 uses the inflammatory slogan of “men using a girl’s bathroom” as a cover for a law that takes power away from voters and their local elected officials. The truth is that transgender women have used women’s restrooms for years; the only safety problem has come when they use the men’s bathroom and get attacked. Providing safety was at the heart of Charlotte’s new policy, but scary rhetoric can distract and deceive. The heads of Bank of America, Apple, IBM, Levi Strauss, Kellogg and dozens of other companies have spoken out against HB2, but not S. Lewis Ebert.   We saw how the rhetoric of “voter fraud” frightened North Carolinians and provided cover for sweeping legislation that cut early voting, ended several voter protections, increased contribution limits, repealed the public campaign financing program that helped elect African Americans to the state courts, and allowed more corporate money in state elections. We can’t let yet another deceitful attack on democracy happen.

  2,463 of 3,000 Signatures

  Created by Jen Jones