Was voter registration decline intentional? NAACP, Democracy NC demand explanation

The leaders of the North Carolina NAACP and Democracy North Carolina held a brief press conference outside Gov. McCrory’s office this morning to highlight their demand that the Governor explain the precipitous and troubling drop-off in voter registrations at state public assistance offices.

As was reported here and in several other places last week, a 1993 federal law mandates that state public assistance offices affirmatively reach out to clients with whom they interact to give them the opportunity to register to vote. Since the advent of the McCrory administration’s control of state Department of Health and Human Services offices, however, such registrations have dropped precipitously — from an average of more than 2,000 per month to an average of less than 700 per month.

Today the NAACP submitted a letter to the Governor on behalf the Forward Together Moral Movement asking two things:

1) That the Governor address the issue and explain what the heck has happened by this Wednesday, and

2)  That his office and that of DHHS Secretary Aldona Wos provide expedited responses to several demands for public records related to the issue — perhaps most importantly, any correspondence between DHHS headquarters and local public assistance offices related to the issue voter registration.

NAACP President Rev. William Barber explained during today’s event that the Governor’s response (or lack thereof) would dictate whether or not his organization would seek a federal Department of Justice investigation of the matter.

Let’s hope that, for a change, the McCrory administration treats the matter with the seriousness it deserves. As NAACP lawyer Al McSurely pointed out this morning, the rapid decline in voter registrations over the past two years has, by all indication, resulted in as many as 40,000 fewer lower-income people being registered to vote in North Carolina. This is obviously a huge issue that is especially troubling in light of the efforts of conservative lawmakers to advance the so-called “Monster Voting Law” that has erected several new roadblocks to voting in North Carolina.

Stay tuned.