N.G. voters
returned to the
rolls after ruling
BY CASH MICHAELS
POR THE CHRONICLE
On Election Day, thou
sands of North Carolina
voters who had been ille
gally removed from the
voting rolls of Beaufort,
Moore and Cumberland
counties because their
voter registrations were
cancelled, were able to
cast their ballots, thanks to
a federal judge's ruling
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"insane."
The N.C. NAACP
charged that the black
voter removal by the three
county boards of elections
was another attempt by
Republicans to suppress
the black vote right before
the crucial 2016 general
election, and filed suit Oct.
31 in federal court in
Winston-Salem against the
State Board of Elections
and three county Boards of
Election (BOE) cited.
U.S. District Court
Judge Loretta Biggs, in her
Nov. 4 ruling, agreed.
"[T]here is little ques
tion that the County
Boards' process of allow
ing third parties to chal
lehge hundreds and, in
Cumberland County, thou
sands of voters within 90
days before the 2016
General Election consti
tutes the type of "system
atic" removal prohibited
by the [National Voter
Registration Act]," Judge
Biggs wrote.
As outlined in the N.C.
NAACP lawsuit and peti
tion for an emergency
injunction, members of a
right-wing organization
called "The Voter Integrity
Project (TVIP) purported
ly sent out thousands of
pieces of mail addressed to
mostly black voters in
Beaufort, Moore and
Cumberland counties just
a few weeks before the
Nov. 8 general election.
Any single mailing that
came back marked "unde
liverable" by the post
office was then taken to
the local county board of
elections as "proof' that
the voter no longer lived at
that address, and therefore
should be removed from
the voting rolls, "without
written confirmation from
the affected voters or com
pliance with federal voter
registration laws."
According to the suit,
3,951 voter registrations
were challenged in
Cumberland County, 400
in Moore County and 138
in Beaufort County.
But as the lawsuit
maintained, the "undeliv
. erable" scheme was in
violation of the federal
National Voter
(Registration Act, which
clearly states that voters
| cannot be removed from
I the county rolls inside of
90 days before an elec
tion. That clearly wasn't
done, and the removals
were deemed "systematic"
oecause uie cnauenges
came from members of
TVIP were "coordinated."
Because of North
Carolina's notorious
recent history of legisla
tively attempting to sup
press the black vote
through the 2013 voter ID
law, the U.S. Department
of Justice [DOJ] filed a
"statement of interest"
supporting the N.C.
NAACP complaint.
"[T]he purge program
at issue here rested on a
mass mailing and the
silence of voters largely
unaware of the potential
injury to their voting
rights," the DOJ stated. In
fact in many cases, the
black voters targeted still
lived at the addresses the
alleged undeliverable mail
came back from, or at the
very least, were still living
in the very county they
were registered and eligi
ble to vote in.
"The voter purges have
a long history of being
racially motivated and ter
ribly inaccurate, said
Penda Hair, an attorney for
the NAACP. "It's a time
worn GOP strategy to sup
press the black vote that is
being recycled in the run
up to Election Day."
On its website, the
Voter Integrity Project
blasted the N.C. NAACP
for its action, maintaining
that the civil rights group,
was "...indirectly attack
ing the race-blind research
techniques of election
integrity watchdogs in
North Carolina."
"We will not take these
false accusations lying
down," TVIP stated on its
website. "Our supporters
work for the integrity of
U.S. elections by exposing
vulnerabilities and recom
mending corrective action.
We question the motives
of the NAACP and other
groups who respond to our
research by calling us
names and entangling us
in legal maneuvering."
TVIP added that as a
result of N.C. NAACP suit
and media attention it gar
nered, the organization has
been receiving numerous
threats.
"The NAACP is
defending rights of all
North Carolinians to par
ticipate in this election and
we will not back down and
allow this suppression to
continue," said the Rev.
Dr. William Barber II,
president of the North
Carolina NAACP.
E. Forsyth biology teacher
wins Teacher of the Year
BY TEV1N ST1NSON
THE CHRONICLE
Allison Weavil, a biol
ogy teacher at East
Forsyth, has been named
Winston-Salem/ Forsyth
County Schools Teacher of
the Year.
Weavil
who has
spent her
entire
teaching
career in
the local
schopl
district,
was
selected
from nominees from each
school who had to submit a
portfolio and go through an
interview process.
During a ceremony to
honor Weavil and other
outstanding teachers in the
district on Monday, Nov. 7,
the South Carolina native
said she was inspired to go
into the profession by her
mother, a retired teacher
and principal.
"At the age of 5,1 knew
I wanted to be a teacher. I
would say I'm going to be
a teacher like my mom."
When she got the news
she had been named 2016
2017 Teacher of the Year,
Weavil
Weavil said she was at a
lost for words. She said the
entire process from being
nominated to being select
ed earlier this year has
been humbling.
"I'm honored that I get
to stand in a room with so
many people I have a lot of
respect for and represent
you as teacher of the year.
This is probably the most
humbling experience I've
had in my entire life."
Teachers who made the
final cut were honored dur
ing the banquet held at the
Old Salem Visitors Center
as well. This years' finalist
for teacher of the year are
RJ. Reynolds chemistry
teacher Joshua Bragg,
Bolton Elementary third
grade teacher Anna Geras,
South Fork Elementary
music teacher Ashley
Hayes, and Lowrance
Middle exceptional chil
dren's teacher Reagan
Stillerman.
Weavil challenged the
room filled with educators
to continue to grow and
develop new ways to reach
students. She said, "If on
your journey as an educa
tor you feel you have it all
figured out and there's
nothing left to learn, it's
time to get out."
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