Source: NC Policy Watch
Earlier this month, the North Carolina Republican Party sent a formal request to the State Board of Elections demanding that local election boards double-check the thousands of signatures on the absentee ballot requests to ensure that signatures match an individual’s voter registration, according to reporting from NC Policy Watch.
The ludicrous request is followed by a threat to take this issue to court because according to the GOP, it is a necessary effort to prevent illegal voters from casting votes.
This request requires hundreds of signature analysts to review thousands – if not millions – of signatures in local underfunded and understaffed boards of elections, all for a claim that’s not supported by any evidence.
Rob Schofield of NC Policy Watch wrote “But the bigger point to be made here is that, as with previous GOP voter suppression efforts, there is simply no evidence that such a requirement is remotely necessary. North Carolina already employs among the nation’s toughest rules when it comes to the actual casting of mail-in ballots by requiring a notary’s signature or the signatures and addresses of two witnesses.”
Republicans have created a fantastical conspiratorial legend made of intricate lies whose sole purpose is to make it harder for people to cast their votes, especially at a time when more and more people chose to do so by mail.
The continued attempts from the NCGOP to suppress the vote are not new. And the latest installment is a continuation of the big lie perpetuated by twice impeached President Donald Trump in the 2020 elections and is similar to proposals Republicans are pushing in states like Georgia or Arizona.
