North Mecklenburg News

The North Carolina State Board of Elections' decision to rewrite election laws despite a judge's order and legislative intent "smacks of subterfuge and cheating," Richard Rivette, a Republican candidate for the state House of Representatives, said.

"It's a little late in the game to start changing the rules on how ballots are collected in states that have absolutely no history of doing mail-in ballots safely," he told the North Mecklenburg News.

Rivette is running for the District 107 seat against Democratic incumbent Kelly Alexander, Jr. 

The elections board is "mostly dominated by Democrats," Rivette said, who lives in Charlotte. The board has three Democrats and two Republicans. 

"But if you are going to be honorable, you have to be completely neutral and fair," the candidate said. "This close before the election, you do not change the methodology. If you want to change it, make it effective for the next election two years from now. That way, everybody has time to get used to it. We can educate people, spend a year getting everyone up to speed."

Specific election rules changed after the state Board of Elections settled a lawsuit related to absentee voting. The resolution allowed voters who failed to provide a witness signature could submit an affidavit to rectify the problem instead of filling out a new ballot. It also extended the number of days after the election absentee ballots could be received and counted from three to nine days. 

This change sparked a fierce backlash from Republican leaders who argued that the board did not have the authority to change legislatively-approved election laws that even the governor signed. 

Since September, judges have made conflicting rulings. A recent decision from U.S. District Judge William Osteen restored the witness signature requirement to be on an absentee ballot when sent. 

Osteen said the Elections Board has "rewritten the one-witness requirement, a statute this court previously upheld, to permit [the] submission of an absentee ballot without a witness," the Raleigh News and Observer reported. 

However, The Laurinburg Exchange reported on Oct. 19 that state Superior Court Judge Bryan Collins decided not to block the settlement changes and gave the parties involved until 5 p.m. on Monday to files briefs before a temporary stay is lifted. 

The election board's actions were designed to "disrupt the election and put it into question," Rivette said. "It's extremely easy to forge ballots that are mailed in, mass-produce them, especially with no witness."