In a video obtained by CBS Information, the chief of an “election safety” activist group of 1,800 volunteers in North Carolina is seen instructing attendees at a digital assembly to flag voters with “Hispanic-sounding final names” as one approach to determine doubtlessly suspicious registrations because the group combs by way of voter rolls forward of the 2024 election.
“In the event you’ve received of us that you simply, that have been registered, and so they’re lacking data… and so they have been registered within the final 90 days earlier than the election, and so they’ve received Hispanic-sounding final names, that most likely is, is a suspicious voter,” mentioned James Womack, the chief of the hassle, who chairs the Republican Get together in Lee County, North Carolina. “It doesn’t suggest they’re unlawful. It simply means they’re suspicious.”
Womack is the president and founding father of the North Carolina Election Integrity Crew, a bunch of self-described patriots devoted to investigating the election for what they understand as incidents of fraud within the pivotal presidential battleground state — the place polls put the competition at a statistical tie between the Republican former President Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
Womack describes his group as comprised largely of retirees working remotely from their computer systems to research public data associated to voting. He says the group has an inventory of a number of elements they’re utilizing to flag suspicious voters, a activity he believes is critical due to flaws in how voter data has been collected lately.
North Carolina’s State Board of Elections maintains that its voter rolls are compliant underneath federal and state rules.
However Womack alleges, “Now we have corrupt voter lists.” He says, “Residents, particular person residents have a proper to that data and so they analyze that data to determine potential unlawful or improperly registered folks.”
His feedback echoed a standard theme being repeated by former President Trump and different Republican leaders on the 2024 marketing campaign path — that they think giant numbers of undocumented immigrants intend to solid ballots. That declare is hotly disputed by immigration advocates and election officers of each events across the nation, who say no proof has surfaced to help the notion that undocumented immigrants have ever tried to vote in important numbers.
Juan Proaño, the CEO of the League of United Latin American Residents, instructed CBS Information it defies logic to count on undocumented immigrants would take the chance of crossing the border after which place themselves in authorized jeopardy by registering to vote and truly voting in an election.
“It’s totally a lot a delusion,” mentioned Proaño,” however the campaigns have primarily used it as rhetoric, once more, to attempt to suppress and intimidate the Latino vote.”
Jeff Loperfido, chief counsel of voting rights on the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, says focusing on of particular person voters based mostly partly on whether or not their names sound Hispanic is “not stunning, contemplating a lot of the rhetoric from considered one of our nationwide events is saying there’s a large inflow of immigrants swinging elections.”
“It is a distraction that’s meant to scare folks and depress turnout of authorized voters,” mentioned Loperfido, “and in the end trigger chaos and confusion across the consequence of the election.”
Womack says he isn’t focusing on voters based mostly on race and maintains that his group is following the legislation.
“Properly, we’re all we’re empowered to do is what the legislation permits. And the legislation permits us to analyze,” he mentioned “That is, you understand, exercising our rights underneath the legislation to analyze and ensure that nobody else — no different authorized residents vote is diluted.”
Womack’s North Carolina group is considered one of eight state-based teams underneath the umbrella of a broader nationwide effort to “clear up” voter rolls referred to as the Election Integrity Community, led by longtime GOP election lawyer Cleta Mitchell. Mitchell participated within the notorious taped telephone name after the 2020 election during which Trump requested Georgia’s secretary of state to discover him 11,780 extra votes.
Womack described Mitchell because the “matriarch” of the group on an episode of Steve Bannon’s Conflict Room podcast. Since then, he has been working with different activists to prepare ballot watching, examine voter lists and problem particular person voters.
“We have an enormous battle forward of us and I’m actually grateful for all that you simply do,” Mitchell instructed Womack in a prolonged sit-down interview on the group’s web site.
In an electronic mail to CBS, Mitchell described Womack as “a fantastic patriot” and “the very essence of an American hero.”
Election activists and the RNC’s authorized struggle
Citizen activist teams have performed a help function in a number of the dozens of lawsuits difficult voter rolls in a number of key states.
In August, the Republican Nationwide Committee filed a lawsuit in opposition to the North Carolina State Board of Elections claiming there have been greater than 225,000 people on voter rolls who’re doubtlessly ineligible as a result of they’d not submitted obligatory voter registration data together with Social Safety numbers and driver’s license data.
The state board maintains that the rolls are correctly maintained and people lacking required data can nonetheless vote so long as they convey a voter ID or different approved identification doc.
Loperfido, whose group analyzed the listing of voters, instructed CBS Information that the RNC’s listing of doubtless ineligible voters predominantly contains Black and Brown folks, based mostly on their evaluation of the publicly out there demographic data.
However the RNC says attainable non-citizen voters on the rolls may dilute the votes of “authorized” voters, and particularly cites a grievance by a “involved citizen, Carol Snow,” to the Board of Elections in October 2023 as the premise for considerations with voter registrations within the state.
Snow, who described herself as an “election denier” in an electronic mail to CBS Information, is a member of NC Audit Drive, one other group underneath the umbrella of Womack’s North Carolina group. At a gathering of fellow activists this April, Snow appeared alongside Womack and described herself as “a busybody,” in a video posted to YouTube.
“I will present the oversight. In case you are not going to do it, I’ll. This election system belongs to me,” she mentioned.
Snow’s public data request for voter registrations lists grew to become the premise for the RNC lawsuit alleging voters failed to offer federally mandated registration data. Snow had sought to determine voters whose registrations have been lacking Social Safety or driver’s license data, which the grievance alleges may make them ineligible underneath federal voting guidelines.
An official with the RNC didn’t reply to CBS Information when requested in the event that they coordinated with Womack or Snow on any ongoing litigation.
Snow says she was contacted by the RNC solely after the go well with was filed, when she says an RNC lawyer reached out to her to ask for any extra data. She mentioned she declined to help them.
Final week, a decide appointed by former President Trump threw out a part of the RNC’s case, saying that state officers did adjust to federal election legislation. The decide’s ruling famous that the Nationwide Voting Rights Act prevents states from systematically eradicating voters from the rolls inside 90 days of an election.
Concentrating on “suspicious” voters
Although states are prohibited from systematically eradicating voters from the rolls forward of November, self-described election integrity activists are nonetheless utilizing public data of voters to focus on people they deem to be “suspicious.” Their aim, Womack mentioned, is to be prepared if there are names that may be challenged after votes are solid, however earlier than the election is licensed.
“There are a variety of personal organizations which are working to research the voter listing,” Womack mentioned. “Particular person residents have a proper to that data and so they analyze that data to determine potential unlawful or improperly registered folks.”
In a video, which was supplied to CBS Information by a progressive watchdog group and independently verified, Womack is seen describing a technique to make use of publicly launched voter registration lists to create his personal “suspicious voter lists.”
“So we will create our ‘suspicious voters’ listing for North Carolina. We’re optimistic that we’ll have lists out there for each county that— as soon as the voting begins,” Womack mentioned on a Zoom name in August 2024. “I actually imagine we will problem those that vote on the listing.”
Womack says he and his group are assembling county-by-county lists of doubtless suspicious voters who might be challenged throughout the important interval between Election Day and certification. The investigation would come with trying up voters’ house addresses, scouring property data, voter registration data and the date the individual registered to vote.
Womack says the difficulty of non-citizen voters will not be his high concern, however it’s a issue when contemplating vulnerabilities in registration lists.
Womack instructed CBS Information {that a} “Hispanic-sounding” final identify was simply considered one of many elements he would use in figuring out suspicious voters. Different elements he cited could embrace lacking voter registration data, if a person voted absentee by mail, how just lately the individual registered to vote, and in the event that they voted absentee.
“The Hispanic-sounding final identify actually will not be unique,” he mentioned in response to questions from CBS Information. “We’re looking for each illegitimate voter and — and to problem those that should not be voting.”
He cited “mispronunciations” and misspellings of Hispanic or Arab names as a cause they may very well be flagged.
“You search for pure mispronunciations or pure grammatical errors or punctuation issues,” he mentioned. “And that means, you are able to do correct listing upkeep. Now, among the many Hispanics, I might say the identical factor concerning the Arab inhabitants.”
“The concept you mix these issues and it equates to a suspicious voter will not be true,” mentioned Loperfido. “Anybody focusing on voters based mostly on that type of evaluation and hispanic final names, you’re taking part in with hearth”, he mentioned, citing each state and federal legal guidelines that prohibit people from focusing on voters on the premise of race.
Womack mentioned that if he or his fellow volunteers imagine a voter is ineligible, based mostly on a wide range of elements, they’re ready to problem them at county elections boards throughout the state. Third-party people can problem voters in individual on Election Day or, in the event that they voted by absentee poll, as much as 5 days after Election Day.
“If there is a large-scale operation of voter fraud occurring in North Carolina,” he mentioned, “we may very well be very busy submitting challenges everywhere.”
