North Carolina Voter Registration Information

North Carolina Voter Registration Database Report:
State Regulations and Procedures Implementing HAVA Voter Registration Requirements

Attached is the North Carolina Voter Registration Information as set forth in Making the List, Database Matching and Verification Processes for Voter Registration as published by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University on March 24, 2006. This document contains available information about voter regtistration current as of the date of publication.

Federal law now requires, as of January 1, 2006, that states create and maintain statewide databases to serve as the central source of voter registration information. Citizens’ ability to get on the rolls (and thus their ability to vote and have their votes counted) will now depend on the policies and procedures governing the use of these databases in the voter registration process. Evidence demonstrates that poor policy and procedure choices could result in the unwarranted disenfranchisement of millions of eligible citizens attempting to register to vote. The new statewide databases, and their role in the voter registration process, are poorly understood, but extremely consequential.

This report, issued just as the state databases begin to come online, presents the first comprehensive catalog of the widely varying state database practices governing how (and in some cases, whether) individuals seeking to register will be placed on the voter rolls.

The report covers the state’s voter registration process, from the application form up through Election Day - including the intake of registration forms, the manner in which information from the forms may be matched to other government lists, the consequences of the match process, and any opportunity to correct errors. Each variation at each step of the process has tangible consequences for voters seeking to register and vote in 2006 and beyond.

IMPORTANT: Because of the possibility that voter information may differ from database to database (abbreviations, street designations, etc.) or because of data entry errors, valid voter registration data may be rejected. Individual voters are urged to contact their county clerk or local election board to determine that they are properly registered. Many such election authorities maintain online services for this purpose, other will require a telephone call or perhaps a written inquiry to determine the voter's eligibility.

As an addendum to this state report, a fill-in form for voter registration is presented which can be completed, printed and sent to the appropriate registratrar of voters (generally the county Clerk or local election board). The proper form of submission and location is included on the registration form.

Attachment	Size
North Carolina.pdf [3]	354.81 KB

Straightening Out the Straight-Ticket Ballot Confusion in NC

NC voters threw away 92,000 votes for President in 2004 because of confusing law.
Other states report problems in ballot miscounts due to straight ticket programming errors.
"The offices of President and Vice President of the United States are not included in a Straight Party vote. 
This contest must be voted separately."
NC is the only state in the US where straight ticket voting does not count for President.
Our state has one of the highest undervote rates for President in the Country because of this.

Miscounts
Voters Unite reports [4] that misprogramming caused straight-party votes to be dropped or counted for the opposite candidate, for example, in Indiana [5], Iowa [6], Kentucky [7], New Mexico [8], Pennsylvania [9], South Carolina [10], Texas [11], Utah [12], and Wisconsin [13]

Lack of voter education
The 3 million-plus voter guides mailed to households all over North Carolina do not mention North Carolina's straight ticket exception. That straight ticket voting does not count for the President is non-sensical and counter-intuitive, the instructions on the ballot are confusing.   Recent feedback from early voting poll workers and observers indicates that many voters do not understand how the straight ticket voting option, or that it IS optional.

If using the "straight ticket" option on your ballot -  vote in three steps with a flip:

1. Vote for President
2. Vote Straight ticket option
3. Flip the ballot over and vote for judicial contests

If voters can remember to Vote 1-2-3, they can ensure that their vote fully counts.

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Justin Moore, PHD from Duke University and now working for Google provides an analysis of the undervotes in 2001 and  2004 on his site. He pulled his numbers from the NC SBoE website.  Moore advised the NC State Legislature's Joint Select Committee on Electronic Voting in 2004/2005 prior to our passage of the Public Confidence in Elections Act SL 323 that required paper ballots and post election audits.

Year	Turnout	Ballots Cast for President	# of Undervotes	% of Undervote
2000	3,015,964	2,940,600	75,364	3.15

Year	Turnout	Ballots Cast for President	# of Undervotes	% of Undervote
2004	3,593,323	3,501,007	92,316	2.57

2004 Turnout and ballots cast from the NC State Board of Elections [16]

2004 Turnout, ballots cast, undervote and undervote percent from Justin Moore website [17]

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[17]

Howard Scripps News Article Discusses NC's Straight Ticket Voting Exception

2004 Vote Count Smoother, Still Some Problems [18]

By THOMAS HARGROVE Scripps Howard News Service December 22, 2004
Gary Bartlett, executive director of the North Carolina Board of Elections, did not defend the high undervote or suggest voters are ignoring the presidential race. "I was hoping we would improve over what happened in 2000. But this shows a law in our state that needs to be reviewed and probably be changed," Bartlett said.
Both North Carolina and South Carolina historically suffer unusually high undervotes in presidential elections because, by state law, voters who mark the "straight-party-ticket voting" option must also vote separately for president. Every four years, tens of thousands of voters in both states apparently forget to do this.
Full election data is not yet available from South Carolina, but in North Carolina this year 58,223 ballots failed to register a presidential vote.
A few other states with historically high rates of undervoting showed little or no improvement this year, including the key battleground state of Ohio. Some 96,580 ballots in the Buckeye State failed to register a presidential vote this year, up from 93,991 four years ago.