For the past 16 months, the North Carolina Election Integrity Team Cabinet has committed the resources and precious time of our members towards free and fair elections across the 100 counties in North Carolina. To that end, we have sought partnerships with many private organizations, both major political parties, and government agencies. While we are a non-partisan 501(c)4 organization, we are not apolitical, especially when the objectives of our team are thwarted by persons or entities who intefere or are at cross-purposes to those objectives. We strive to inform our members about all opportunities they have to shape future elections - ensuring it is truly hard to cheat, while remaining reasonably easy to vote for all citizens.
Our 1,000-Member NCEIT team substantially elevated the visibility, reporting, and legislative attention of NC elections throughout the 2022 mid-terms. We successfully partnered with 30 or so county-level organizations and we trained thousands of volunteers to be poll observers, poll workers and judges. But we had to do that without an enterprise-wide partnership with the NCGOP. In several instances, party officials were told not to cooperate with NCEIT or that our work should not be supported. More than a few county GOP chairmen told me they were conflicted about what to tell their members based on instructions from the the NCGOP state team on HIllsborough Street in Raleigh.
More recently, the NCEIT team has worked diligently with the North Carolina General Assembly to enact important election legislation to close the many loopholes in General Statute Chapter 163. The NCGOP leadership has been 'asleep at the wheel' these several months while NCEIT team was daily pursuing meaningful legislation. Senate BIll 747 promises to bring important changes despite the absence of advocacy by NCGOP leaders. How much easier and more effective might we have been had the NCGOP worked with us on our legislative agenda?!?
On Saturday, June 10th, the North Carolina Republican Party will elect its new State Chairman and Vice Chairman to direct the activities of the NCGOP for the next two years- through and beyond the 2024 Presidential Election Cycle. Both of these races are contested and the contenders could not be more different. Similarly, their respective commitments to our goal of free and fair elections in North Carolina could not be more starkly evident. We would be remiss if we stayed silent about the need for NCGOP cooperation with NCEIT goals and objectives. To align ourselves with the current leadership team would be advocating for the status quo- which clearly is unacceptable. Yet, we do not want to cripple our future activities by aligning our support behind NCGOP leaders who might worsen the relationship. To that end, we do not have a recommendation (yet) on the race for State GOP Vice Chairman, as neither of the currently announced candidates has embraced our work or sought to help in our endeavors.
I am happy to report, though, that one candidate seeking the role of NCGOP Chairmam, John Kane, is a friend to NCEIT and plans to partner productively with us through the 2024 election cycle. His campaign,for NCGOP Chairman is largely focused on goals and objectives he shares with the NCEIT team. We are convinced that, as NCGOP Chairman, John Kane will help us deliver meaningful election law changes and intense cooperation as we train and educate election officials, workers and observers. John is committed to success in all eight lanes of election integrity. And he is genuinely focused on accountability, rather than the lip service we frequently get from the current leadership team.
I urge you to pull up John Kane's website and review his vision and goals for yourself. You can find that information at: https://sites.google.com/johnkane.org/ncgop/home?authuser=0
If you are an authorized county delegate to attend the state convention on June 9-10 in Greensboro, I urge you to register to attend and to vote for John Kane on Saturday afternoon, June 10th. Cutoff for registration is Tuesday, June 6th at 5:00PM. The website for registration is at: https://convention.nc.gop/registration_deadline
Finally, if you want to participate in a Town Hall zoom meeting with Mr. Kane, feel free to join in at 7:00PM tonight at this link: https://www.evite.com/event/017EZGIWP3HTZQKKGEPOALIAQDMGUY?gid=002AZGIWP3HTZQKKGEPOALIATLGHXI&emhm5=f0241f82308b07989b0c83d219c29e86&emhs1=d7014d12a0b0e1974ee3f96101697039dea75b64&emhs2=b7961fff3a8c78d0e0106618a9fd474d71e383f2017f7522fd3fdd03453a1542
We will notify you of other Town Hall opportunities this week.
As always, thanks for all you do in the pursuit of free and fair elections.