IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA

Transcription

1 Case 1:13-cv TDS-JEP Document Filed 05/19/14 Page 1 of 7 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA NORTH CAROLINA STATE CONFERENCE OF THE NAACP, EMMANUEL BAPTIST CHURCH, NEW OXLEY HILL BAPTIST CHURCH, BETHEL A. BAPTIST CHURCH, COVENANT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, CLINTON TABERNACLE AME ZION CHURCH, BARBEE S CHAPEL MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH, INC., ROSANELL EATON, ARMENTA EATON, CAROLYN COLEMAN, BAHEEYAH MADANY, JOCELYN FERGUSON- KELLY, FAITH JACKSON, MARY PERRY, and MARIA TERESA UNGER PALMER Plaintiffs, v. PATRICK LLOYD MCCRORY, in his official capacity as the Governor of North Carolina, KIM WESTBROOK STRACH, in her official capacity as Executive Director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, JOSHUA B. HOWARD, in his official capacity as Chairman of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, RHONDA K. AMOROSO, in her official capacity as Secretary of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, JOSHUA D. MALCOLM, in his official capacity as a member of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, PAUL J. FOLEY, in his official capacity as a member of the North Carolina State Board of Elections and MAJA KRICKER, in her official capacity as a member of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, Defendants. DECLARATION OF MARILYN HARRIS Case No.: 1:13-CV JA0420

2 Case 1:13-cv TDS-JEP Document Filed 05/19/14 Page 2 of 7 LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF NORTH CAROLINA, A. PHILIP RANDOLPH INSTITUTE, UNIFOUR ONESTOP COLLABORATIVE, COMMON CAUSE NORTH CAROLINA, GOLDIE WELLS, KAY BRANDON, OCTAVIA RAINEY, SARA STOHLER, and HUGH STOHLER, Plaintiffs, v. THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, JOSHUA B. HOWARD in his official capacity as a member of the State Board of Elections, RHONDA K. AMOROSO in her official capacity as a member of the State Board of Elections, JOSHUA D. MALCOLM in his official capacity as a member of the State Board of Elections, PAUL J. FOLEY in his official capacity as a member of the State Board of Elections, MAJA KRICKER in her official capacity as a member of the State Board of Elections, and PATRICK LLOYD MCCRORY, in his official capacity as the Governor of North Carolina, Defendants. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiffs, v. THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA; THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS; and KIM W. STRACH, in her official capacity as Executive Director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, Defendants. Case No.: 1:13-CV-660 Case No.: 1:13-CV JA0421

3 Case 1:13-cv TDS-JEP Document Filed 05/19/14 Page 3 of 7 Declaration of Marilyn Harris I. Marilyn Harris, hereby declare as follows: I. I am a U.S. citizen, a resident of Halifax County, and a registered voter. 2. I was a board member of the Halifax County Board of Elections (CBOE from 2009 to HB 589 will have a devastating impact on the right to vote in North Carolina. Background 4. I was appointed to the Halifax CBOE by the Democratic Party in I served as Chairman and Secretary of the Board during the two terms that I served on the Halifax County Board of Elections. My appointment ended in April As a Board Member, I was heavily involved in the election process in Halifax County. I oversaw the functions of the CBOE and chaired the board meetings. Administration & Cost of Elections in Halifax County 6. In Halifax County, the director of the CBOE develops an annual budget that includes the cost of running elections in Halifax. The board members, including myself, approve the budget and the allocation of funds for specific expenses that are outlined in the budget. The budget is then submitted to the Halifax County Commissioner. The Commissioner then allocates funds to the CBOE. 7. The greatest expense of running elections in Halifax County, not including the salaries of Board of Elections employees, is the hiring and training of precinct judges. In an election year, Halifax County hires approximately 150 precinct judges, all of whom are trained twice a year. In Halifax County alone, these trainings cost upwards of $7,500. I his year. because of all of the changes implemented by H.B. 589, there will be additional costs associated with updating training documents. JA0422

4 Case 1:13-cv TDS-JEP Document Filed 05/19/14 Page 4 of 7 Voter Fraud in Halifax County 8. To my knowledge, during my tenure as a board member on the Halifax CBOE, Halifax County did not encounter an instance of voter impersonation where a person voted or attempted to vote using another voter's name or identification. I recall only one instance of voter fraud involving a member of the Halifax County Republican Party who attempted to vote twice to "test the system." This individual was caught by a precinct judge and referred to the county prosecutor and SBOE. 9. I recall an instance when the Voter Integrity Project alleged that Halifax County had a number of deceased voters on the the voter rolls. We investigated these claims and concluded that they were unfounded. The Voter Integrity Project eventually withdrew its complaint regarding Halifax County. 10. I also recall that a candidate in Halifax County challenged a number of voters in The candidate alleged that the voters did not reside at the address on their voter registration cards. The candidate's allegations were ultimately proven false. 11. Given the lack of voter fraud in Halifax County, I believe that allowing observers lrom outside the precinct to challenge voters will result in chaos. These observers will serve no purpose other than to disrupt elections and intimidate voters. Early Voting in Halifax County 12. Halifax County generally uses three early voting sites during the primary and general elections in a presidential election year. The director of the CBOE submits recommendations for early voting sites to CBOE board members, like myself, for approval. The board members then evaluate and approve the sites. A majority of the three board members must approve the sites. After the board approves the early voting sites, the director of the CBOE submits Halifax County's plan to the SBOE for final approval. These plans are generally due by JA0423

5 Case 1:13-cv TDS-JEP Document Filed 05/19/14 Page 5 of 7 the end of March during an election year. Voters are notified of the early voting sites through public notices on a weekly basis starting twenty days before the election. 13. African-Americans make up approximately 53% of the population in Halifax County. During early voting, there is a large turnout of African-American voters, especially on weekends. Approximately 40% of those who voted during the early voting period in 2008 were African-American. The elimination of a week of early voting will have a large impact on African-Americans who disproportionately use early voting to cast a ballot in Halifax County. Even though the number of hours will he the same, voting hours on weekends have been significantly reduced. It will be difficult for voters who work long houts,_especially those voters who rely on weekend voting, to vote. 14. For voters who work in rural areas of Halifax County, the travel time may be minutes to vote (each way. This will prevent many of those voters from having the time to vote during lunch hours, even with transportation. For those individuals without transportation who relied on assistance to get to the polls on weekends, the reduced hours will prevent these individuals from voting. Same-Day Registration in Halifax County 15. I have been directly involved in registering voters to vote in Halifax County. Same-day registration was a good tool because it provided a one-stop process to register and to vote. First time voters who participated in same-day registration were more likely to vote in the first election after they register because of the one-stop process. 16. I do not recall any problems encountered by the Halifax CBOE in verifying the addresses of voters who used same-day registration before canvass. JA0424

6 Case 1:13-cv TDS-JEP Document Filed 05/19/14 Page 6 of As I stated above, Halifax County has a significant African-American population, and that population disproportionately uses same-day registration. Out of Precinct Voting in Halifax County 18. Out-of-precinct voting is used on a routine basis by voters in Halifax County. On Election Day, individuals who cast a provisional ballot are provided with information on how to cure their provisional ballot and a number to call to determine whether their provisional ballot was counted. If a significant number of provisional ballots are cast, the board members of the Halifax CBOE can hold special meetings to evaluate the ballots. Investigations regarding whether a provisional ballot will be_counte_d_are_conchictedily_cboe staff. Staff_members then provide recommendations to board members regarding each individual ballot. The final decision of whether to count a provisional ballot is determined by a majority vote of the three county board members. 19. During my time as a member of the Halifax CBOE, I never witnessed any problems associated with counting out-of-precinct provisional ballots. Once the ballots were sent to the CBOE, staff members could readily identify the voter's correct precinct location and would count the ballots accordingly. 20. A disproportionate number of out-of-precinct voters are African-Americans in Halifax County. This is due, in part, because the African-American population in Halifax County tends to be more transient. The elimination of out-of-precinct voting will disproportionately impact African-Americans in Halifax County. JA0425

7 Case 1:13-cv TDS-JEP Document Filed 05/19/14 Page 7 of 7 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct. Executed on I, Marilyn Harris JA0426