After the 2020 election, Rep. Dan Bishop (North Carolina) began publicly supporting the lie that Democrats manipulated the results. He accused rival parties of waging a nationwide campaign to bind courts and disrupt election administration, challenging electoral votes in four states key to Joe Biden's victory. announced.
“Democrats' goal was to weaken the security of ballots, undermine active identification of voters, and provide an opportunity to stuff ballots into drop boxes after the election,” Bishop said at the time. “This is a national, partisan attack on the constitutional authority to regulate elections, especially to state legislatures.”
Bishop has expressed skepticism about election results in other states, but he also expressed skepticism about the final results of North Carolina, a state won by Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. There is. But just before Election Day 2020, Bishop criticized North Carolina's governor, attorney general, and “national Democratic operatives.” ” which he viewed as a partisan attack on the integrity of the election.
Bishop is currently running for state attorney general. The position would give him tremendous power to protect North Carolina's election integrity and determine the future of voting rights.
“Efforts to challenge people's right to vote, the requirement to use voter ID, the counting and security of ballots at the polls, and how that is handled at the state level will continue,” Irving said. Joyner said. Professor of Law at North Carolina Central University School of Law. “Depending on who is elected attorney general in 2024, what position will the attorney general's office and the state of North Carolina take on these challenges, and how will those challenges be handled in court? will be determined. ”
This means the elected official who tried to overturn the results of an election four years ago could now serve in a position originally intended to expand voting access for North Carolinians. .
“We're stepping into a little bit of uncharted territory here,” said Christopher Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University. “We're talking about electing someone to the office of enforcing the Voting Rights Act, even though it's clear that elections are free and fair.”
“An important role in protecting the right to vote”
One hundred and fifty years before Bishop voted against certifying the 2020 election, North Carolinians adopted a new state constitution as a condition of rejoining the Union after the South lost the Civil War. The provisions also include a requirement that North Carolina's attorney general win a statewide election, an effort to make the state's top lawyer more responsive to the needs of voters, and a Thousands of people were newly freed, and their former enslavement era changed virtually overnight. Men gained the right to vote.
The Reconstruction Constitution of 1868 also expanded the attorney general's role in protecting voting rights, allowing him to prosecute violations of election laws, said Robin Sanders, director of the Brennan Center for Justice's Democracy Program Voting Rights and Elections team. .
“These changes were made to protect the voting rights of newly enfranchised African Americans, formerly enslaved people,” Sanders said. “This was an important step toward ensuring that the right to vote is protected and upheld for all citizens, especially those who have recently gained the right to vote.”
Although poll taxes and literacy tests were used to suppress black voting rights in the decades following Reconstruction, the attorney general's authority to protect voting rights remains intact. Sanders said North Carolina's attorney general can take action against attempts to suppress voting and intimidate voters. They investigate and prosecute voter fraud, challenge and litigate restrictive voting laws that disproportionately affect certain groups, and ensure compliance with voting rights laws. can play a role in monitoring elections.
“State legislatures play a really important role in protecting voting rights,” Sanders said.
By contrast, Mr. Sanders wants an attorney general more hostile to voting rights to refuse to enforce voting rights protections or to create a special commission to investigate alleged mass voter fraud. He said that there is a possibility of proposing.
“Perhaps certain AGs will manipulate information to suggest voter fraud, even though all the evidence from scholars and academics and lawyers has disproved it time and time again,” Sanders said. .
Attorneys general, like Attorney General Josh Stein, can also oppose legislative efforts to restrict access to the ballot box.
“Given the history of this country and state, I think it’s especially important for the attorney general to send that signal to all voters, especially African Americans and those from other marginalized communities.” “They continue to be disenfranchised, both historically and in modern times, and face barriers and hurdles to voting,” Sanders said. “I think it will strengthen our democracy and ensure that all citizens are heard.”
Standard Republican and Standard Democrat
Bishop's opponent is fellow Democrat Jeff Jackson, a member of the House of Representatives. For Cooper, the candidates could not be more different.
“Do you want a standard Republican or a standard Democrat?” Cooper asked. “Both candidates have become part of the party brand.”
Cooper said there is a range when it comes to election administration. On the one hand, there are security measures like voter ID (which research shows has a disproportionate impact on communities of color) and crackdowns on voter fraud. The other is ways to expand access to voting, such as extending early voting and expanding rules around absentee voting.
“If you think about the election conversation being about the tension between security and access, you can imagine there's going to be a lot more talk on the security side with Bishop and of course a lot more talk on the access side with Mr. Jackson,” Cooper said. he said.
Jackson's first bill as a member of the General Assembly would end gerrymandering in North Carolina by creating an independent redistricting commission. I didn't pass.
“It's not that he wants elections to be insecure or anything, but he's much more likely to raise issues around voter access and what he calls 'fair representation.'” Cooper said.
On the other hand, if the Republican supermajority passes additional legislation restricting access to voting places, Bishop is unlikely to challenge the General Assembly.
“I can't imagine Dan Bishop trying to defend the early voting period or trying to block Congress' authority in any way,” Cooper said.
Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina, said North Carolina's attorney general may not be able to enact voting laws, but he is committed to supporting voting rights and eliminating voter suppression tactics and unrepresentative gerrymandered maps. He said he could devote his office's resources to opposing it.
“My concern is that we're working with a Congress that may not be voting rights friendly. That could be a real disaster for our state,” Phillips said. Ta.
