While the budget negations between the North Carolina House and Senate may still be ongoing, the redistricting process continues to be on the minds both of election activists and the media. With such state and even national interest in North Carolina’s redistricting process, the Civitas Center for Public Integrity is continuing its breakdown of the various groups on the left seeking to influence this year’s redistricting process. We previously looked at Common Cause NC. This time, we focus on another organization involved heavily in the redistricting and election litigation, Democracy North Carolina.

Background

What is Democracy North Carolina?

Democracy North Carolina began as Democracy South in 1991 as a project of the Institute for Southern Studies, an organization that prides itself as an advocate for progressive change. The Institute for Southern Studies is the parent organization behind Carolina Public Press and Facing South, a progressive publication with a history of attacking conservatives.

Democracy NC is a founding member of Blueprint NC, an organization that gained infamy with their strategy memo directing members to “eviscerate, mitigate, litigate, cogitate and agitate” the state’s leadership in 2013. Under their former leader, Bob Hall, they organized many attacks on North Carolina’s election law via litigation or lobbying the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

Hall has been an influential figure in North Carolina’s election process for years. Civitas has written several articles over the years outlining his questionable backroom conversations with members of the State Board of Elections and being outsourced work on their behalf. Susan Myrick outlined Hall’s long history and influence in North Carolina Election law before his retirement here.

While Hall may no longer be leading Democracy NC, both he and the organization have continued their involvement in North Carolina election laws.

Election law influence

Democracy NC has been a part of many of North Carolina’s election lawsuits, either by submitting amicus briefs supporting other progressive litigants and groups or by direct involvement in these lawsuits. They have also been a significant organization in the fight to change election law to allow for same-day registration for voting and stopping Voter ID laws. They also were responsible for trying to stop individuals from reporting on possible voter fraud cases by attacking and suing individuals for contesting ballots in the 2016 election.

Preventing the implementation of voter ID has been one of Democracy NC’s main objectives since Republicans took control of the General Assembly in 2010. They joined with the American Civil Liberties Union to sue the State Board of Elections in 2015, accusing them of violating the National Voter Registration Act — known as “motor voter law.” The State Board of Elections immediately provided data and charts to demonstrate that the lawsuit was most likely frivolous.

During the 2020 election, Democracy NC looked to implement extreme changes to North Carolina’s election laws by suing the State Board of Elections. Using the Covid-19 pandemic as a pretext, Democracy NC attempted the following election law changes:

  • Alter the 25-day voter registration deadline
  • Overturn law requiring absentee ballots to be requested on a form created by the State Board of Elections
  • Expand the types of documents that can be used as proof of residency for absentee ballot requests
  • Allow political operatives to fill out and submit absentee ballot requests for voters
  • Eliminate the witness requirement for absentee ballots
  • Eliminate the residency requirement for all precinct poll workers
  • Overturn North Carolina’s ban on ballot harvesting
  • Allow county boards of elections to advantage some voters by setting different voting hours for early “one-stop” voting sites
  • Require county boards to notify voters whose ballots were rejected

The federal district court eventually issued an injunction on the case in August 2020. The court only ruled in favor of the plaintiff’s request that county boards be required to notify voters when their ballots were rejected.

Democracy NC sought to uphold the settlement of North Carolina Alliance of Retired Americans v. State of North Carolina, a controversial settlement that led to the extension of absentee ballot deadlines, expanded the ballot cure process, and would have allowed for the acceptance of ballots dropped off by a third party.

Redistricting

While Democracy NC has not been a leading organization suing over redistricting maps prior to 2020, they have been a consistent backer. They have filed amicus briefs regarding various redistricting suits, siding with other progressive groups against North Carolina’s congressional and state legislative maps. According to the leftist law and policy organization Brennan Center for Justice, they have filed amicus briefs in:

  • Rucho v. Common Cause: Filing alongside the People’s Alliance Fund, Democracy NC sided with Common Cause in a 2016 congressional gerrymandering case.
  • NC NAACP v. Moore: Democracy NC sided with the NC NAACP in claiming that a voter ID amendment to the North Carolina State Constitution was invalid because some members of the General Assembly were elected from gerrymandered districts.
  • Covington v. North Carolina: Democracy NC filed this suit alongside the League of Woman Voters and the NC NAACP, claiming that the General Assembly had not provided enough public input during the redrawing process for legislative district maps.

Democracy NC has continued to seek influence on election law by engaging in the redistricting process. Recently, they have partnered with another progressive policy advocate, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, as part of the “Map Our Futures campaign” to organize their coalition.

 

Funding

Democracy NC has received grants from prominent left-leaning funding groups, such as the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, Proteus Fund Inc., and the George Soros–backed Tides Foundation. Their primary backer is the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, a philanthropic organization based in Winston-Salem that funds many of North Carolina’s most progressive institutions.

Democracy NC Financials

Year Revenue Expenditures Net Assets
2012 $1,280,086 $1,152,494 $666,891
2013 $1,126,679 $1,144,923 $648,647
2014 $1,847,709 $1,811,542 $684,814
2015 $1,558,118 $1,534,986 $706,832
2016 $3,327,055 $2,789,570 $1,256,825
2017 $2,853,916 $2,142,045 $1,995,825
2018 $3,535,246 $2,829,097 $2,699,274
2019 $2,625,721 $2,212,835 $3,148,386

Source: Mapping the Left: Democracy NC

The Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation’s 2017 financial report indicated that they donated $3,650,000 to Democracy NC from 2013 to 2017. Additional financial records from Z. Smith Reynolds show this funding has continued over the years. Z. Smith Reynolds has provided $1,525,000 in funding from 2018 to 2020 for general operations grants or part of their Millennial Voter Partnership project to Democracy NC.

Democracy NC’s financial reports indicate they also act as a financial provider for other progressive groups. You will find some of their most recent grant disbursements below.

2019 Grants by Democracy NC

  • Common Cause Education Fund NC, Washington, DC: $75,000
  • NC PIRG Education Fund, Boston, MA: $75,000
  • Southern Vision Alliance, Durham, NC: $75,000

2018 Grants by Democracy NC

  • Common Cause Education Fund NC, Washington, DC: $77,750
  • NC PIRG Education Fund, Boston, MA: $75,000
  • Southern Vision Alliance, Durham, NC: $90,000

2017 Grants by Democracy NC

  • Carolina Justice Policy Center, Durham, NC: $30,000
  • Common Cause Education Fund NC, Washington, DC: $75,000
  • NC PIRG Education Fund, Boston, MA: $75,000
  • People’s Alliance Fund, Durham, NC: $50,000
  • Southern Vision Alliance, Durham, NC: $75,000

While Democracy NC attempts to market itself as an equal-opportunity good-governance group, everything from its liberal organization funding to its advocacy for extreme progressive election laws shows it is a reliable advocate for the political left’s agenda.