A felony arrest and jailing. The crime? Voting.
August 2, 2018 11:22 PM   Subscribe

12 people in Alamance County, NC, have been charged with voting illegally. (SL NYT) All were on probation or parole for felony convictions, which in North Carolina and many other states disqualifies a person from voting. If convicted, they face up to two years in prison. The case began after North Carolina elections officials ran an audit that found 441 felons had voted improperly in the 2016 election. While most local prosecutors did not pursue these cases, the Almance County DA decided to file felony charges.
posted by stillmoving (24 comments total) 18 users marked this as a favorite
 
Unbelievable.
posted by unliteral at 4:57 AM on August 3, 2018


Cue increased Republican agitation about out-of-control voter fraud in 3...2...1...
posted by Thorzdad at 5:13 AM on August 3, 2018 [6 favorites]


I'm an attorney in North Carolina, and my primary practice is helping people seek relief from the collateral consequences of their criminal records (basically, any consequence other than incarceration, fines, or probation). There is a widely held belief in the community that once you have a felony conviction, you can never vote again. That's not the law, but these cases are going to discourage so many eligible voters from casting ballots, maybe for the rest of their lives.
posted by Handstand Devil at 5:14 AM on August 3, 2018 [33 favorites]


Does North Carolina even count as a democracy at this point?
posted by dis_integration at 5:52 AM on August 3, 2018 [17 favorites]


No, no it does not. It is a model for what's coming down the pike for the rest of us.
posted by zombieflanders at 6:17 AM on August 3, 2018 [10 favorites]




Jesus. Sometimes I wonder whether applying for US citizenship is still a smart idea.
posted by The Toad at 6:44 AM on August 3, 2018 [4 favorites]


First question is "Why were the on the board of elections rolls as eligible to vote?"
posted by mikelieman at 6:57 AM on August 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


Got it.

They said they believed they were allowed to vote because election workers let them fill out voter registration and eligibility forms, then handed them ballots. They said they never would have voted if anyone had told them they were ineligible.

The board of elections failed to verify eligibility to vote. This is on the poll workers.
posted by mikelieman at 6:59 AM on August 3, 2018 [17 favorites]


Felon voting laws by state

Just don't actually visit the pros v cons portion, in which the cons are written largely by a bunch of bigots who have clearly sought to suppress the votes of POC. Also, it provides no context, no history, and it's from a website that quite honestly looks like one of those Third Way "why can't decent people just meet fascists in the middle?" deals. The ACLU does it better and links to information that goes far deeper into why it's a problem. There's also websites like The Sentencing Project that give us a far better picture of why this is Jim Crow 2.0, not something that needs to have a both-sidesism argument. After all, felony disenfranchisement in the US has a dark and dirty history based on white supremacy, and former slave states tend to be especially blatant about it. We shouldn't be depending on sources that attempt to be "fair and balanced" about this, when it's very clearly wildly unfair and unbalanced in the direction of some of the darkest aspects of our history.
posted by zombieflanders at 7:00 AM on August 3, 2018 [16 favorites]


The form in question says nothing about probation.

The instructions do, briefly, but it's not mentioned in the part you swear to, so this one needs to get a good legal defense. Which I worry they won't get.
posted by mikelieman at 7:05 AM on August 3, 2018 [10 favorites]


Does North Carolina even count as a democracy at this point?
2016: North Carolina is no longer classified as a democracy
posted by schmod at 7:09 AM on August 3, 2018 [26 favorites]


Sometimes I wonder whether applying for US citizenship is still a smart idea.

I would seriously recommend avoiding US citizenship unless you intend to spend the rest of your life in the US. The big problem with the US is that the IRS taxes income earned outside of the country. Which means that if you're a dual citizen and move back home, not only are you expected to pay US income tax on your income (modulo tax treaties) but all of your country's tax-free savings vehicles are often still taxable by the IRS and/or require really complicated tax preparation. For reference, the only other country that does this is Libya.

Beyond the financial issues, this belies an underlying sense of overreach on behalf of the US government; the idea that no matter where you are, you are first and foremost beholden to them.

If you're emotionally invested in the idea of Being American, get your citizenship. Otherwise, just stick with the green card.

</derail>
posted by suetanvil at 7:23 AM on August 3, 2018 [12 favorites]


Does North Carolina even count as a democracy at this point?

It's an open question whether it ever was one, and if so, it was by accident during the realignment from a messy southern Dem coalition to the current status quo of a 50-50 state ruled by rural and exurban zealots. But that applies to a lot of states, and one of the problems of American federalism is that it is nigh-on impossible to overthrow a state government that is unfit for purpose.

On this specific : the felony/misdemeanor distinction is medieval bullshit, was dumped by Britain a long time ago, and sticks around in the USA because of white supremacism.
posted by holgate at 8:26 AM on August 3, 2018 [4 favorites]


It sometimes strikes me that the US is the LAST place on Earth to want to live.
posted by Burn_IT at 8:50 AM on August 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


Has anyone ever been prosecuted for removing someone's voting rights improperly? Anyone? Bueller?
posted by Revvy at 9:44 AM on August 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


No, they just get to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
posted by zombieflanders at 9:51 AM on August 3, 2018 [14 favorites]


If they were ineligible, their registrations should have been stricken off the books.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:47 AM on August 3, 2018


Purging voter registration rolls is part and parcel with the rest of this Jim Crow stuff, so that's not really a solution. Felony disenfranchisement should itself be illegal.
posted by zombieflanders at 10:55 AM on August 3, 2018 [9 favorites]


The form in question says nothing about probation.

The last line above the signature states '(4) I have not been convicted of a felony, or if I have been convicted of a felony, I have completed my sentence, including any probation. '
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 12:55 PM on August 3, 2018



If you're emotionally invested in the idea of Being American, get your citizenship. Otherwise, just stick with the green card.


Emotionally invested in not being deported/detained/shut out of the country for spurious reasons. And also, I want to be able to vote for myself, my kids, and those who can’t, like the people in TFA. But sometimes I just wonder where this ship is sailing...(sorry, end derail)
posted by The Toad at 1:38 PM on August 3, 2018 [5 favorites]


It sticks in my craw that the Holman dude is letting them win. “Even when I get this cleared up, I still won’t vote,” “That’s too much of a risk.” Way to stand up for yourself dude!
posted by Megafly at 4:01 PM on August 3, 2018


I guess this how Republicans prefer to spend tens of millions of taxpayer dollars.
posted by xammerboy at 4:51 PM on August 3, 2018 [2 favorites]


Wow, they finally found 12 illegal votes!

Trump and the GOP would be thrilled to make voting while registered Democrat illegal.
posted by BlueHorse at 5:50 PM on August 3, 2018


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