logo
North Carolina to send mailers to some 200,000 voters asking for missing registration info

North Carolina to send mailers to some 200,000 voters asking for missing registration info

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina election officials will send mailers to some 200,000 voters asking them to provide information missing from their state registration records, seeking to address a Republican concern raised during a protracted legal fight over a state Supreme Court seat and a recent U.S. Justice Department lawsuit.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections voted unanimously Tuesday to begin contacting voters whose records lack a driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. Last month, the Justice Department sued state election officials, alleging the board had violated federal law by failing to collect the identifying information.
The lawsuit was noteworthy because it was filed just weeks after Republicans wrested control of the state elections board away from the state's Democratic governor after years of failed attempts and gave the power of board appointments to the state auditor, a Republican. The law was passed late last year, before Republicans lost their supermajority in the Legislature, which they used to override the governor's veto.
The Justice Department sought to force the state board to create a prompt method to obtain the identifying information.
Sam Hayes, the board's new executive director, told board members on Tuesday that the department had 'tentatively signed off' on the plan, which involves sending up to three mailers to voters that will include a self-addressed, postage-prepaid return envelope with a form for collecting the information.
'The goal here is to obtain that information as efficiently as possible and satisfy the outstanding litigation here and, of course, comport with federal law,' Hayes said.
The previous state board had acknowledged the issue and updated the registration form to make it clear that either a driver's license number or, if a voter didn't have a driver's license, the last four digits of a Social Security number were required. But it decided it was not going to ask voters to provide the information, pointing to the state's voter ID law which confirms a voter's identity.
About half of the 200,000 affected voters would be limited to casting provisional ballots until they provide the information to the state, Hayes said. The first two mailers combined could cost between $300,000 and $450,000, according to preliminary estimates.
Jeff Carmon, one of two Democrats on the five-member board, said he would support the proposal despite concerns the board was requiring voters to act to ensure they can continue to vote.
'It's hard to understand starvation if you've never felt the pangs of hunger,' Carmon said. 'It's the same situation with voting obstacles. Your perspective of an obstacle may not be the same as someone who's consistently had their identity and their validity questioned.'
Republicans on the board said the actions were needed to ensure the state's voter lists were accurate and that the request of voters was reasonable to comply with federal law.
Also Tuesday, the state's 100 county election boards were reconstituted under the same law passed by GOP lawmakers that changed the appointment process for the state board. The state board, as required previously, appointed four of the five members for each county board with an even split between the two major political parties.
But instead of the Democratic governor appointing the fifth person, who serves as chair, State Auditor Dave Boliek made the chair selections Tuesday. Like the state board, the appointment changes were expected to give Republicans 3-2 majorities on county boards as well.
__
Cassidy reported from Atlanta.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Landlord jailed for decades in hate-crime attack on Palestinian American family has died
Landlord jailed for decades in hate-crime attack on Palestinian American family has died

Winnipeg Free Press

time25 minutes ago

  • Winnipeg Free Press

Landlord jailed for decades in hate-crime attack on Palestinian American family has died

JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — A landlord jailed for decades after he attacked a Palestinian American boy and his mother has died. Three months ago, Joseph Czuba was sentenced to 53 years behind bars for the attack. He was found guilty in February of murder, attempted murder and hate-crime charges in the death of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of the boy's mother, Hanan Shaheen. The 73-year-old Czuba targeted them in October 2023 because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas, which started days earlier. Czuba died Thursday in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections, the Chicago Sun-Times reported, citing the Will County Sheriff's Office. The law enforcement agency did not return a call seeking comment on the death. Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations' Chicago office, said in a statement on Saturday that 'this depraved killer has died, but the hate is still alive and well.' Evidence at trial included harrowing testimony from Shaheen and her frantic 911 call, along with bloody crime scene photos and police video. Jurors deliberated less than 90 minutes before handing in a verdict. The family had been renting rooms in Czuba's home in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago when the attack happened. Central to prosecutors' case was harrowing testimony from the boy's mother, who said Czuba attacked her before moving on to her son, insisting they had to leave because they were Muslim. Prosecutors also played the 911 call and showed police footage. Czuba's wife, Mary, whom he has since divorced, also testified for the prosecution, saying he had become agitated about the Israel-Hamas war, which had erupted days earlier. Police said Czuba pulled a knife from a holder on a belt and stabbed the boy 26 times, leaving the knife in the child's body. Some of the bloody crime scene photos were so explicit that the judge agreed to turn television screens showing them away from the audience, which included Wadee's relatives. The attack renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination and hit particularly hard in Plainfield and surrounding suburbs, which have a large and established Palestinian community. Wadee's funeral drew large crowds, and Plainfield officials have dedicated a park playground in his honor.

PARKER: Breaking public-school monopoly on education overdue
PARKER: Breaking public-school monopoly on education overdue

Toronto Sun

time25 minutes ago

  • Toronto Sun

PARKER: Breaking public-school monopoly on education overdue

President Donald Trump speaks during a reception for Republican members of Congress in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in Washington. Photo by Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP Photo The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has been pursuing, on two fronts, the critical objective of fixing America's broken education system. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account One, an executive order by Trump, issued shortly after he assumed office, is to dismantle the Department of Education. Outright closing of the department is only possible by an act of Congress. However, the president is moving to accomplish the same objective administratively by closing offices and major staff eliminations. The Supreme Court recently upheld the president's authority to do this. The second front is the advancement of parental choice in education. Give parents the power and authority to educate their children as they choose and send their children to a school that reflects their values. One need not look further to see the problem than by examining the so-called Nation's Report Card, the biannual test results administered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Results from 2024 are as follows: Grade 4 math, 39% at or above NAEP proficiency standards; Grade 8 math, 28% at or above proficiency; Grade 4 reading, 31% at or above proficiency; Grade 8 reading, 30% at or above proficiency. To those parents who think these are good results, I invite you to continue to allow public schools and teachers' unions to control your child's education. But recent Gallup polling shows most understand there is a problem with our public schools and major change is overdue. Only 29% say they have a 'great deal' or 'quite a lot' of confidence in our public schools. The beginning of important change was recently passed in the One Big Beautiful Bill. The new law contains a provision allowing taxpayers to direct funds to support school choice vouchers. The provision allows a dollar-for-dollar tax deduction up to $1,700 that can be sent to a qualifying Scholarship Granting Organization that can distribute scholarships to qualifying applicants (households earning no more than 300% of their county's median income) who have been accepted and registered in a private school. There is no limitation to the total funds that can be disbursed through the program and no expiration date for the credit, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2027. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Although Trump and congressional Republicans deserve major kudos for getting this passed, it still falls short of the mark. It's not enough. The version in the House bill had the credit up to $5,000, but this got whittled down to $1,700 in the bill that finally passed. Per the Education Data Initiative, average tuition in private schools, combining both primary and secondary schools, is $13,302. So, it will take eight $1,700 contributions to reach this. Further, there are some 50 million students in elementary and secondary public schools. To get just 5% out, at an average private tuition of $13,302, means $33.3 billion. That's 19.5 million individual $1,700 contributions. Can this happen? We'll see. But, again, we're just talking about 5%. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. How about using the $82.5 billion discretionary budget of the Department of Education to fund scholarships? Another major obstacle is the provision that requires states to opt into the program. Many believe that blue state governors won't do it. Sad, but possibly very true. Of course, education is more than math and reading. It is a platform of 12 years in which values are transmitted to our youth. If you want to know the values being transmitted, log on to the websites of the two major teachers' unions — the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers — and the hard-left agenda emerges loud and clear: DEI, LGBTQ, Trump being called a fascist, advocating liberation from the public schools being called an attack on democracy, etc. With all the horror about what's happening at our universities, Kindergarten-Grade 12 is where it starts. It's time to break the public-school monopoly and give parents control over educating their children. Star Parker is founder of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education Columnists Toronto & GTA Columnists Sunshine Girls Columnists

Israel's military says airdrops of aid will begin Saturday night in Gaza as hunger grows
Israel's military says airdrops of aid will begin Saturday night in Gaza as hunger grows

Toronto Star

timean hour ago

  • Toronto Star

Israel's military says airdrops of aid will begin Saturday night in Gaza as hunger grows

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel's military has announced that airdrops of aid will begin Saturday night in Gaza, and humanitarian corridors will be established for United Nations convoys, after increasing accounts of starvation-related deaths. The statement issued late Saturday followed months of experts' warnings of famine. International criticism, including by close allies, has grown as several hundred Palestinians have been killed in recent weeks while trying to reach aid.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store