OFFICIALS WARN OF FAKE
VOTER REGISTRATION
OFFICIALS
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Now that early voting has begun across North Carolina, state election officials warn residents of gimmicks and scams that could compromise the integrity of their vote for the March 3rd primaries or November 3rd general elections. One of the most prominent scams is the fake voter registration official.
According to the NC State Board of Elections (NCSBE), “Investigators…are looking into allegations of misconduct by individuals conducting voter registration drives, including that they are impersonating state or county government election officials.”
So far, those reports have been coming from Brunswick, Buncombe, Chowan, Haywood, Nash, Scotland, and Wake counties.
And there are reports of some of those fake voter registration officials actually going door-to-door supposedly “re-registering” people to vote.
NCSBE officials are very clear that it is not their practice to go door-to-door to re-register voters. It is not a crime for someone to come to your home to talk about voting, but it is a crime for them to portray themselves as a state or county government official if they’re not.
If ever someone comes to your door posing as a voting registration official, always ask to see their proper identification and make note of it so that it can be confirmed.
It is also a crime to falsify a voter registration form.
According to the NCSBE, “[False] voter registration applications turned into county boards of elections are missing required voter information or include inaccurate information, such as a wrong date of birth or a voter identification number different from what’s on file in the state election system. It is a Class I felony to falsify a voter registration form.
The practice has been going on for years, NCSBE officials say, and always picks up around election time.
NCSBE officials say the only time you’ll ever need to update your voter registration is if you move to a new county. Only then are you required to re-register your voter registration.
If you change your name, address within the same county or party affiliation, you “should submit a new voter registration application to update [your] voter record.” All of that can be done by mail or online.
Unless you are already at an officially designated early voting polling place, if you ‘re filling out voter registration forms (like during a voter registration drive), NCSBE officials advise that you keep those forms and deliver them to your county board of elections yourself. If everything is in order, your forms will be certified and you should receive notification in the mail that is addressed specifically to you afterwards that your voter registration is complete.
If there is something wrong with that notification card regarding the information contained about your voter registration information, call the state Board of Elections at (919) 814-0700 and ask for Investigations immediately to report it.
“The State Board will investigate all credible allegations of voter registration fraud by individuals or organizations,” said State Board Executive Director Sam Hayes. “When workers involved in voter drives falsify or alter information on registration forms, it can cause problems for innocent voters at the polls. This is unacceptable and hurts voter confidence.”
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ST. AUG STARTS NEW
ERA OF LEADERSHIP,
FRESH BEGINNINGS
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
On February 4th, the Board of Trustees of St. Augustines University (SAU) proudly announced “…a renewed standard of leadership, accountability, and stewardship as the University prepares for the 2026–2027 academic year.”
Under the leadership of new Board Chairwoman Sophie Gibson - the first woman ever to lead the historically black Episcopalian institution - the board “…has taken deliberate actions to strengthen governance, ensure leadership continuity, and establish a clear framework for institutional renewal grounded in responsibility, transparency, and long-term sustainability,” stated a release from the school last week.
This new vision is in stark contrast to the well-publicized chaos SAU has experienced in recent years, with resulted not only in the school not able to pay its bills, but finding itself the target of several lawsuits from both former employees, and high-end vendors (including the federal government) for millions of dollars.
The ability of SAU to be able to manage this mounting adversity was called into question as the school lost its permanent academic accreditation (which it is presently in court fighting to regain) and the loss of a lion’s share of its student enrollment - from a average 1500 per academic year to as few as 200 (if not less in the past two years, yielding a 2025 graduating class of just 25, and eliminating on-campus teaching to online instruction.
In the midst of all of those problems, were concerns about securing adequate loan funding to address outstanding debts, and how much of SAU’s valuable downtown property would have to be relinquished in order to satisfy the obligations.
And at the root of it all were serious questions about SAU’s precious Board of Trustees leadership and the direction they were taking the institution.
That has now changed with the election of SAU Chair Sophie Gibson, and her stated commitment to putting SAU’s troubled past behind it, and building fresh and strong toward a brighter future.
“We are building a Board with the experience and discipline required for this moment,” says Chair Gibson. “Our focus is on restoring stability, rebuilding trust, and positioning SAU for sustainable success. We welcome continued engagement from our students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, faith partners, community leaders, institutional partners, and supporters of all kinds as we work together to secure a strong future for this historic institution.”
In December, the SAU Board appointed Dr. Jennie Ward-Robinson as the interim president not only to “…ensure executive leadership continuity during a period of institutional transition,” but to reestablish SAU “as a model for effective board-president collaboration.”
The SAU Board of trustees stress that the institution “remains operational and accredited,” albeit with remote classes which began on January 14th.
SAU has now secured long-term financial assistance from Self-Help, in addition to other financial partners, representing “…an important turning point for Saint Augustine’s University—one grounded in transparency, responsible stewardship, and a renewed commitment to serving students and preserving and strengthening SAU’s 159-year legacy.
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