North Carolina is not the best or even close to the best regarding election integrity. But it is not the worst either.
North Carolina ranks 24th of 50 states and the District of Columbia on the Heritage Foundation’s Election Integrity Scorecard. The scorecard gives the state 61 out of a possible 100 points.
Three major categories account for 71 of the 100 possible points in the scorecard: voter ID, the accuracy of voter registration lists, and absentee ballot management. There are also several other categories.
Here are some things North Carolina can do to make our elections more secure and score higher on the election integrity scorecard.
- Implement voter ID for in-person voting (in-person voter ID is currently tied up in court, although providing an ID number is required for absentee voting).
- Expand the kinds of records that voter registrations are checked against, such as commercially available data and jury excusal lists, and check anomalies in the data such as large numbers of individuals registered at a single-family home or registrations at a business address.
- Join the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) to crosscheck voter registration lists with other members states for duplications and help find potential new voters to register.
- Require all absentee ballots (except military and overseas ballots) be received by county elections boards by election day.
- Ban the private funding of election officials and government agencies.
There are other measures that North Carolina can do to improve the security of our elections, but doing these few things would go a long way towards helping North Carolina make its elections more secure.
