Michael Whatley (right), chair of the Republican National Committee, speaks to reporters as North Carolina GOP chairman Jason Simmons looks on at the NC GOP headquarters in Raleigh on Sept. 14, 2024. (Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)
National Republican leaders spoke to volunteers in North Carolina on Saturday as part of a national tour focused on election security, while the party continues to file a flurry of lawsuits in battleground states ahead of the start of early voting.
“We’ve got to have the right rules of the road in place before voting starts,” said Michael Whatley, the chair of the Republican National Committee, during a “Protect the Vote” event at the NC GOP headquarters.
Whatley, formerly the North Carolina party chair, has helped lead a new front of Republican efforts focused on voting and elections. That includes four lawsuits in North Carolina against the Board of Elections, on topics ranging from non-citizen voting to the use of student digital IDs at polling places.
In response to the first of those lawsuits, the NCSBE called Republican allegations “categorically false” and said they could “undermine voter confidence” in elections.
Concerns about the security of elections and potential “fraud” remain front and center for some Republicans, as former President Donald Trump continues to falsely claim that he won the 2020 presidential election.
Just over 78% of North Carolina residents believe their votes were counted accurately in 2020, a recent poll found (though they were slightly less confident in other states’ counting). A bipartisan panel of experts and attorneys has been touring the state in recent weeks as part of a “Trusted Elections Tour” as part of an effort to debunk myths and conspiracy theories.
Whatley argues that the Republican litigation is simply pushing for popular requirements.
“This is not election denialism,” he said. “These are not conspiracy theories. These are proposals that are supported by 70, 75, 80 percent of all Americans.”
GOP training up partisan ‘observers’ with new NC law in effect
Republicans are recruiting and training both poll workers and partisan “observers” who will monitor precincts across the state once voting begins.
Observers are allowed under Senate Bill 747, North Carolina’s new GOP-led elections law. Every polling place can have up to three observers per political party present at once, including “at-large” observers who cycle through precincts throughout the day.
They are allowed to walk around a precinct and listen in on conversations about the administration of the election. But they cannot directly interact with voters or look at filled-in ballots.
NC Newsline previously reported that the Democratic Party was training observers to watch for any irregularities or disenfranchisement.
So, too, are Republicans. The North Carolina party will have a “war room” set up at headquarters, Whatley said, though they will aim to address any problems that crop up locally.
“What we’ve continued to pursue over the last couple election cycles is making sure our network of volunteers and volunteer attorneys are understanding the sensitivities that go on within the polling locations,” NC GOP chair Jason Simmons said.