The top Rockingham County elections official alleged Friday that a woman associated with a progressive advocacy group attempted to interfere with provisional voters who were coming back to an elections office to fix issues with their ballots — votes that could upend power in the North Carolina Senate.
Don Powell, the chairman of the Rockingham Board of Elections, said the woman was approaching voters Thursday as they entered and exited the board’s office in Reidsville, asking voters who they voted for while recording videos of the interactions. Powell says he told the woman that she wasn’t allowed to approach voters or record them at the office. He said she returned again to the office on Friday.
Powell, who reported the incident to state elections officials, said such interactions could deter voters from meeting with elections officials. “That prevents people from coming in, having open conversations with our people without us having to take them to a private room to ask questions and feel comfortable with the answers — because she was sitting right there,” Powell said.
Powell said the woman identified herself only as “Chris” and said she handed him a pamphlet from Blueprint NC Faith Table. The pamphlet says the group is “building a nimble, responsive, adaptive and scalable network ready to counter the impact of MAGA and white Christian nationalism.”
Serena Sebring, the executive director of Blueprint NC Faith Table, told WRAL that the person at the center of the allegation was acting independently and not on the group’s behalf. Sebring didn’t identify the person. “Blueprint NC is committed to protecting every eligible voter’s right to cast a ballot and have that ballot count,” Sebring said in a statement.
State law prohibits people from harassing voters within a prescribed buffer area of a polling place. They’re also prohibited from interfering with elections officials’ efforts to count and collect ballots. State elections officials have cited those rules in guidance ahead of in-person voting on Election Day.
After early votes and Election Day ballots were tallied Tuesday, Rockingham Sheriff Sam Page led State Sen. Berger by just two votes in the Republican primary for the state’s 26th Senate District. Page’s lead grew to 23 votes Friday after Rockingham and Guilford county elections officials finished counting provisional ballots.
Ballots from military and overseas voters are expected to be counted next week. If the margin of victory is less than one percentage point apart after those are counted, the trailing candidate can request a recount by March 17. A recount is expected, however, because there are fewer than six military and overseas ballots expected, elections officials said Friday.
Powell’s allegations come as officials are undertaking what’s known as the “cure” process in voting parlance, in which elections officials investigate issues with certain ballots.
When voters run into problems at the polls — such as if they show up at the wrong precinct, forget an acceptable form of photo identification, or weren’t on the list of registered voters even though they thought they should be — they’re still allowed to vote. Those voters have to cast what’s called a provisional ballot. The provisional ballot might or might not be counted, depending on the cure process. During that process, voters can provide any documents they have to try to get their vote counted. That process was finalized in counties statewide on Friday, including in Rockingham County.
Berger, one of the state’s most influential Republican legislators, has led the Senate for more than a decade. Page ran for the office, saying Berger had lost touch with the people of their district. Democratic groups, too, have sought to support the effort to unseat Berger.
Because of the stakes of the race, scrutiny on the electoral process has been elevated, along with calls for independent oversight of a possible recount.
In a statement to WRAL, the Berger campaign said its volunteers have contacted voters who submitted provisional ballots and encouraged them to resolve their issues. However, Berger campaign spokesman Jonathan Felts said the campaign’s volunteers don’t ask voters who they attempted to vote for.
“The Berger campaign has not engaged and will not engage in any of the voter intimidation activities that have been alleged or are being conducted,” Felts said. He added the campaign feels confident that the person at the center of Powell’s intimidation allegation “is not there in support of Senator Berger’s reelection.”
The allegations come a day after Bob Rucho, a Republican member of the State Board of Elections and Berger ally, resigned from the board. Rucho had made public statements in support of Berger and against Page ahead of the primary, even though board members are expected to refrain from partisan statements.
And on Wednesday, Page said State Auditor Dave Boliek — who ultimately oversees state elections — should recuse himself from a possible recount. Boliek endorsed Berger in the race and added several former Berger lieutenants to the auditor’s office staff. Boliek’s office and state board officials say the auditor doesn’t have a role in the vote-tallying process.