Washington, D.C. – The Democrats are once again up to no good in North Carolina. This time, they’re engaging in shady – and potentially illegal – acts of intimidation, impersonation, and coercion, all aimed at getting the Green Party thrown off the ballot and directing more liberal votes to Cheri Beasley.
Not only does new reporting implicate the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), but also liberal lawyer Marc Elias, who is currently serving as counsel for both the DSCC and the Beasley campaign.
This “bareknuckle fight” to keep a major third-party organization off the ballot by targeting ballot petition signers is unprecedented and a terrible look for the Democrats who are clearly petrified about Beasley’s chances in the Tar Heel state.
Does Beasley support her own lawyer’s efforts to interfere with and undermine Democracy? So far, her silence is deafening.
More from the AP (we urge you to read the entire article):
A day after Connor Harney received anonymous text messages asking him to retract his signature from a petition to qualify Green Party candidates for the November ballot in North Carolina, he said unidentified canvassers brought their “attempts to interfere with democracy” to his doorstep.
A woman claiming to represent the state Board of Elections appeared at his home in Fuquay-Varina in late June, a checklist of street addresses in hand, and repeated the request, he said.
When Harney — a 31-year-old historian at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro — refused and questioned the woman’s affiliation, she left with a warning: If Green Party candidates gain ballot access, they could take away votes from Democrats and hand the GOP victories in tight races, namely the Senate race between Democrat Cheri Beasley and Trump-backed Republican Rep. Ted Budd.
“I told her, ‘What you’re doing now makes Democrats look very desperate,’” said Harney, a registered independent. “But, more importantly, it goes against the democratic process because you’re actively trying to ensure another party doesn’t make it onto the ballot.”…
The Democrats acknowledge asking signers to remove their names, but claim they were merely trying to make sure potential supporters weren’t being tricked.
“We reached out to voters to ensure they had not been deceived,” DSCC spokesperson Amanda Sherman said…
Though Democrats had little success dissuading progressive voters from backing the Green Party ballot bid, their lawyers, including Elias Law Group, general counsel for the DSCC, lobbied the board to scrutinize irregularities among the signatures.
With its petition rejected, the Green Party missed the July 1 deadline to nominate its candidates for the November ballot. Now the party’s choice for Senate, Matthew Hoh, could appear only by court order or legislative action from the General Assembly, which concluded its work session on July 1, elections board spokesperson Patrick Gannon said.
Statement from NRSC Spokesman T.W. Arrighi: “The Democrats have sunk to a new low in North Carolina. Not only have they admitted to targeting ballot petition signers at their homes in a blatant act of intimidation, but it is all being orchestrated by Cheri Beasley’s own counsel! This clear cut interference with the democratic process is not only un-American, but disqualifying for Beasley should she be found to have any association with the activities.”
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