Neighbors on Call's Weekly Policy Update for 11/23/20

Election Update

• On Tuesday Chief Justice Cheri Beasley requested a recount in her reelection race after the discovery of voting errors in two counties during the canvass shifted the lead to her opponent, Paul Newby, with a 406-vote margin. Counties have until the end of November 25 to submit recount results. Beasley subsequently filed 89 election protests across the state alleging that 2000 provisional and absentee ballots were improperly excluded from the count. After multiple protests he filed the previous week were all dismissed, Newby also filed a second round of protests.

• On Tuesday the Attorney General race was called for incumbent Josh Stein. Though he won by a narrow margin, it was greater than the 10,000-vote or smaller difference needed for his opponent to request a recount.

Environmental Policy

• On Thursday the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling against Murphy-Brown/Smithfield in a series of nuisance suits against the company. The ruling affirmed an earlier District Court decision that industrialized hog farming operations on a farm in Bladen County, a contract grower for Murphy-Brown/Smithfield Foods, unduly harmed its neighbors’ quality of life. The appellate judges sided with Murphy-Brown’s lawyers in one particular, however: they ruled that there would need to be a rehearing governing the amount of punitive damages issued to plaintiffs, this time without mention of corporate finances or executive compensation. Smithfield released a statement later in the day on Thursday that they had reached a settlement, the details of which will not be disclosed.

Neighbors on Call's Weekly Policy Update for 11/16/20

• Here are the results of the five NC House campaigns we worked with:

• √ Rep. Terence Everitt, HD 35: +3102

• √ Ricky Hurtado, HD 63: +477

• Rep. Sydney Batch, HD 37: -2294

• Kimberly Hardy, HD 43: -1420

• Nicole Quick, HD 59: -2458

• Nearly all county election offices submitted the results of final vote canvasses on Friday. Republicans had a net loss of one NC Senate seat but won at least three new NC House races and will retain majorities - albeit not veto-proof ones - in both legislative chambers.

• As of Friday, North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley held a 35-vote lead over her Republican challenger, Associate Justice Paul Newby. (See update below.) With the exception of 1,472 provisional ballots from Robeson County, all votes cast in North Carolina have been submitted. It is likely there will be a recount because of the unusually close statewide contest in which nearly 5.4 million votes were cast. Additionally, the Newby campaign had already filed election protests in a number of counties in a continuation of the legal battles over which absentee-by-mail ballots can be counted. Regardless of the final outcome, Democrats will maintain a majority on the court.

• UPDATE: On Sunday night Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the NC State Board of Elections, reported that two North Carolina counties, Robeson and Washington, discovered during routine canvassing that there were mistakes in the voting results they had reported on election night. Brinson Bell indicated that approximately 3,000 votes will be affected. Corrections are expected by the end of today, Monday, and may have an impact on the race for Chief Justice of the NC Supreme Court. As of Monday morning, Chief Justice Beasley is down by 230 votes.

• With Friday’s vote tallies reported by nearly all counties, Attorney General Josh Stein leads his Republican opponent Jim O’Neal by a comfortable margin, making a recount unlikely.

• NC House Minority Leader Darren Jackson (D-Wake) confirmed Friday that he will not seek that position in the next General Assembly. Rep. Robert Reives (D-Chatham, Durham) announced he will be a candidate for the post. He is the current deputy leader for the Democratic caucus.

Neighbors on Call's Weekly Policy Update for 11/9/20

ELECTION UPDATE

Following the election on Tuesday,

• Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly retained control of both the House and Senate, though they did not regain a veto-proof supermajority in either chamber.

• Many ballots are still expected to be counted.

As of Monday morning: about 41,000 provisional ballots were cast, 95,000 absentee ballots were still outstanding, and 30,000 mail-in ballots have been accepted but not tallied.

Local boards will continue to review the eligibility of provisional ballots over the next several days, and voters who cast provisional ballots may provide additional information necessary for their vote to be counted until 5 PM Thursday, November 12.

For reference, in 2016 under half of all provisional ballots were counted.

Mail-in ballots that were postmarked by November 3 will also continue to be accepted until November 12, but only some of the outstanding ballots are expected to be returned, as some of those voters may have chosen to vote in person on Election Day instead or not vote at all.

• Final results are expected November 12 or 13, once county canvassing is complete.

• All results are posted on the NC SBE Election Results Dashboard.

COVID-19

• UNC-Chapel Hill announced that it would provide COVID-19 tests for students before they leave campus for winter break. While the tests are not required, the University is “strongly encouraging” students to get tested to “[protect their] family and friends.” To facilitate increased tests, hours for free testing at the Carolina Union will be extended during the week of November 16. UNC-CH is also encouraging students to get a flu vaccine before leaving campus.

Economic and Housing Policy

• On Tuesday theState Court of Appeals ruled unanimously in two cases that a “debt buyer” company could not force plaintiffs who were part of a class-action suit to arbitrate each of their cases separately. The decisions allow the plaintiffs to pursue their cases further, and they could set a positive precedent for other consumer rights cases stymied by mandatory arbitration clauses.

Criminal Justice

• On Monday the ACLU of North Carolina and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law filed suit against the Alamance County sheriff and the Graham chief of police in response to events Saturday, October 31st, when law enforcement officers in Graham pepper sprayed a group of peaceful demonstrators marching to the polls. The suit seeks a temporary restraining order on behalf of the leader of the march, Graham resident Rev. Gregory Drumwright, and the racial justice organization Justice For the Next Generation.