The Mail-In Ballot Chaos Is Going Against The Black Voters
Nikki Attkisson | Last Updated : October 16, 2020Somewhere in the Guilford County Election Commission, nearly 1.000 absent votes are waiting for their processing. At least two Greensboro electors were seated in a pile in Northern Carolina, part of Guilford County.
The elections are coming near, and the US is all set to vote for the next President. This year the polls are not going to be a cakewalk, and the people are confused and disturbed. Many of them are heartbroken, as the government is not letting them practice their vote. There have been a lot of cases of the ballot this year where even the President himself has pointed fingers. As the people wait for a new President, the elections are getting intense.
On September 4, Vincent Gager, a Black man 48, sent mail in their polls with his 83-year-old father, Nathaniel. They were involved in voting by mail to prevent Covid-19 radiation. More than one month later, no one had any knowledge of how they voted, which meant that there was something wrong with them to keep them from being admitted. Their vote was pending, and no one had any idea about what happened. The problem was one part of North Carolina’s voting laws and their details on witnesses, which was called into confusion when attempts were made to promote voting in the sense of a pandemic of coronavirus.
Gager said of his dad’s ballot, “I have been doing it the same way for years. “I’m his son, I’m a witness to him, and none of you ever told him that his vote was not going to count.” A missed signature or envelope may lead to the casting of postal votes. Yet “healing” ballots is the procedure in which electors will rectify specific errors and ensure that their voices are counted. States have varying frameworks for “curing” elections — some immediately disclose issues to voters, and other countries compel voters to control electoral authorities proactively. There have been speculations for the voter signatures and the witnesses being forged. To avoid this practice, the officials are all deployed. Still, the blacks are feeling that the election board is not fair towards them.
North Carolina is the hub of partisan struggles in recent years — where the early elections on Thursday started with a long line of voting across the region. A statute that allows electors to carry the ID issued by the government to the polls is attached in court. For the last two years, when legislative maps drawn by the Republican-led legislature in question were in the spotlights of racial gerrymandering. Since a state court decision in 2019, these maps were tossed out. This year’s chaos continued: Democrats brought litigation to alleviate mail-in limitations blaming the pandemic, and the Republicans withdrew unexpectedly to the State Elections Board in protest after a settlement had been obtained.
However, the decision of the court of Wednesday means that the Gagers’ voting remains in limbo until the county gives further orders.With 3.4% of the ballots categorized “pending” and “pending cures,” Guilford County has one of the lowest approval levels in the state, but the vote has still not been taken. The Black electors have returned 44 percent of the options that are “dated.” Black voters makeup only 16% of the overall votes cast but account for almost 40% of votes labeled “due” or “due remedy.”
Gager claims that what happened with his ballot had to do with attempts to eliminate the Black vote in the state. “We are purposely doing it in the open,” he said. But the issue lies in the need for more voters’ education as voters step through mail-ins in enormous numbers – especially Democrat action. At the same time, republicans appear to urge voters to take polls as usual. Rev. T. Anthony Spears, North Caroline president of the NAACP, and a male member of the Board of Elections of Guilford County pointed out.
“I believe that blacks, vibrant persons, did not access or use the absentee ballot system, were unfamiliar with it, and were not cultured,” Spears said. “A lot of education has to be undertaken so that they can solve some of the challenges posed by the absent vote.” On the website of the North Carolina State Election Commission, Black electors just cast 2,460 of the 26,514 presidential primary ballots on March 3. “The early voting cycle was used by African Americans overwhelmingly, but not by absent ballots,” Spears said. “Some of them are going through this experience for the first time.”
However, it is not just electors who struggle with uncertainty about the cure of votes. County election officers all over the state were asked to place votes alongside evidence flaws as a result of a legal battle over the process of reparations for the absentee. An intention to maintain electoral ballots without witness knowledge “to prevent confusion as the relevant matters are already unresolved in a variety of trials” was provided by the North Carolina State Election Board early in October to the counties.
On Thursday, the North Carolina Election Board emailed the county election managers and committees stating that it would take time to conclude a ruling based on advice and instructed county election officer to remind the county that if an election is classified as other than “accepted” or “accepted-curated.” The government has already indicated that electors with a shortcoming will vote at an early stage and cancel the pending ballot.
“The State Board is faulting me,” said Spears. People lose faith in the political cycle.” People lose faith in the board of elections, and this is not good. When the citizens do not trust you, it becomes a significant issue and can cause a lot of harm to the smooth functioning of the government. Is it true that the black votes are being avoided? If it is, then this is not the right thing as recently, the US had witnessed a lot of chaos over the death of Floyd. This is a crucial time, and we all are going through tough times. Everyone hopes that the elections get over with safety and peace.
With over 15 years as a practicing journalist, Nikki Attkisson found herself at Powdersville Post now after working at several other publications. She is an award-winning journalist with an entrepreneurial spirit and worked as a journalist covering technology, innovation, environmental issues, politics, health etc. Nikki Attkisson has also worked on product development, content strategy, and editorial management for numerous media companies. She began her career at local news stations and worked as a reporter in national newspapers.