THE CASH JOURNAL FOR 01-10-19

STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 01-10-19

2019 NC GENERAL ASSEMBLY  LONG SESSION BEGINS

            [RALEIGH] As of Wednesday, the days of the Republican supermajority in the NC General Assembly are over. Thank to impressive gins during the 2018 midterm elections, while Republicans still have a majority in both the state House and Senate, they no longer have veto-proof majorities, meaning that if they pass legislation Gov. Cooper doesn’t like, he can stop it with a stroke of his pen. Thus, expect Democrats – who’ve been virtually ignored in the legislature since 2011 because they didn’t have the members to truly challenge anything – to now speak with more authority now that they can uphold Gov. Cooper’s vetoes. Senate Pro-tem Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore were re-elected to lead the Republican majority.

FEDERAL SHUTDOWN AFFECTING NORTH CAROLINA FARMERS, HURRICANE RELIEF EFFORTS

            [RALEIGH] Thanks to the three-week old partial federal shutdown that has forced 800,000 federal employees to go without a paycheck, hurricane relief money that  was supposed to go to farmers from the state who lost property and livestock during storms can’t get anything, state officials say. Lawmakers had earmarked $240 million to go to farmers and fishermen impacted. They were also supposed to get a special form to fill out, but thanks to the shutdown county Farm Services agency offices are closed. Nothing can be down, officials say, until the shutdown ends.

NCNAACP ANNOUNCES 13^THANNUAL HK ON J PEOPLE’S ASSEMBLY AND MORAL MARCH

            [RALEIGH] The NC NAACP announced Wednesday the kickoff of its 13^thannual Historic Thousands on Jones Street/Moral March and People’s Assembly for Saturday, Feb. 9^th, in downtown Raleigh. More than 125 NCNAACP local branches, along with members of over 200 coalition partners from other social justice organizations, are expected to bring their concerns for voter empowerment and other issues to the state legislature by the tens of thousands from across state. More details about this year’s gathering are forthcoming.

                                                            -30-

GOP COULD STOP NEW 9^THDISTRICT ELECTIONS WITH MINORITY VOTE

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

            As if the controversial Ninth Congressional District 2018 elections, currently being investigated for alleged absentee ballot fraud, couldn’t get messier, comes this heretofore unrealized factor – one Republican would be needed to join the three-Democrat majority on the new five-member State Board of Elections (SBOE) if it voted to have a new election when it convenes Jan. 31^st.

            If both SBOE Republican members stick together in that instance, voting against a new Ninth District election, there will be no election.

            According to Congressman G. K. Butterfield (D-NC-1), and confirmed by Patrick Gannon, spokesman for the SBOE, the new SBOE board, appointed by Gov. Cooper, will consist of three Democrats and two Republicans. But one of those Republican board members has to vote with the Democratic majority, if the majority decides that based on the evidence, the Ninth Congressional District race between Republican Mark Harris and Democrat Dan McCready was skewed because of alleged illegal handling of hundreds of absentee ballots in both Bladen and Robeson counties, and requires a new election.

            The two Republicans to the new SBOE will be recommended by NC Republican Party Chair Robin Hayes, but ultimately appointed by Gov. Cooper. Given how Hayes and the state GOP have dragged their feet in helping with the SBOE investigation, and demanded that Harris be officially certified for the Ninth District seat, it is entirely plausible that both Republican appointees will not vote with the Democratic SBOE majority if they decide to order a new election.

            Though the SBOE has not released its findings yet into the controversy, published reports indicate that people connected with a local Bladen County political consultant, MacCrae Dowless, allegedly took unsealed absentee ballots from voters, many of whom were black and elderly, promising to deliver them to the local board of elections during the 2018 midterm elections.

            It is illegal in the state of North Carolina for anyone, other than the voter or a close relative, to handle a voter’s absentee ballot. Published reports many of those ballots collected by Dowless’ paid staffers were lost.

            Republican Harris defeated Democrat McCready by 905 votes in their contest. There are reports that over 1,000 absentee ballots between Robeson and Bladen County are missing.

            As a result, the previous SBOE refused twice to certify Harris’ victory, thus denying him the Ninth District seat on Congress. Harris has now asked a court to intercede and certify the race, saying that as long as his lead stands, then any alleged fraud did not affect the outcome of his race.

            The SBOE originally scheduled a hearing on the matter for Dec. 21^stwhen it was originally constituted with nine members. That board, scheduled to phase out after being ruled unconstitutional, asked a judge for more time, which was granted, but when it couldn’t meet the new deadline, the court unexpectedly declared the SBOE dissolved, ruling that the new five-member board will convene on Jan. 31^st.

            That meant the new hearing originally scheduled for Jan. 11^thhas been canceled, and no interim SBOE can be appointed because the NC Republican Party has refused to appoint anyone to it.

            So now, while SBOE staff continue to probe the matter, there is no board, interim or otherwise, that can render a final judgement on the fate of the Ninth Congressional District election, and whether there can be another one.

            Ironically, it is an old state statute that governs the outcome here.

            Before the NC General Assembly originally created the nine-member NC Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement before it was recently dissolved, NC statute 163-183.13 mandated that the SBOE may order new elections “upon agreement of at least four of its members….”

Even more ironically, this is the only statutory mandate, ordering a new election, that requires four SBOE member votes. All other matters only require the simple majority, three.

Now, as of Jan. 31^st, the five-member SBOE is back in force, and so is the original statute.

            Apparently, even the SBOE wasn’t sure, however. SBOE spokesman Gannon had to look the statute up, and then confirm with a staff attorney before confirming Congressman Butterfield’s assertion.

            So now, based on how compelling the evidence is that corruption was indeed at hand in Harris’ victory, will determine whether the new SBOE will call for a new election at all.

                                                                        -30-

BUTTERFIELD ON GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN:

WE SHOULD ALL CARE

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

            Now that Democrats have regained the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives for the 116^thCongress, NC Rep. G. K. Butterfield (D-NC-1) says,  they have to study how they first lost it back in 2010, and make sure that that doesn’t happen again.

            One way is to make sure that they address the pressing needs of the American people, and right now, ending the three-week long (partial) government shutdown and getting 800,000 federal workers back on the job”…has to be number one on our agenda.”

            380,000 are considered “essential” federal workers, required to work without a pay check, while 420,000 have been furloughed to remain home, also without a paycheck on January 11^th.

            Many of the workers are black. Approximately 7,000 federal workers in North Carolina are affected.

            “We should all care,” insisted Cong. Butterfield, who is beginning his eigth term in Congress. “These are people with families. They are breadwinners, they have obligations,” he said, noting that beyond the workers, people needing food stamps are now having to go without as a result.

            With Pres. Trump insisting that he get $5.7 billion to build a steel wall at the U.S. border with Mexico to keep immigrant families out, and Congressional Democrats, led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowing that they will not appropriate any money for a wall, but only $1.6 billion for needed technological upgrades to maintain border security, divided government in Washington is now the new reality.

            “With the Senate in Republican control, and the House in Democratic control, and at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue - the man is right-wing Republican who is out of step with the mainstream of American citizens, we have to deal with the lineup as we have it,” Rep. Butterfield says.

            “The question is, “Do we surrender to Pres. Trump? And the answer is “No,” Butterfield maintains. Thus far negotiations with Trump’s senior staff have gotten nowhere, with the White House maintaining that without the wall, the stalemate good go on for weeks, months or years. There are reports that Congressional Republicans, fearing voter backlash, are beginning to buckle under the pressure.

            “It is not who we are as a country,” Butterfield maintained. “We do not erect walls, especially to stop people fleeing from tyranny and corruption.”

            Beyond solving the shutdown, Rep. Butterfield is happy about the fact that for the first time in its history, the Congressional Black Caucus – of which he is a former chairman -  has 55 members, giving the panel more power and leverage in the new Congress than ever before.

            “We’re essentially 22 percent of the House Democratic Caucus, …and we plan to use our leverage,” Butterfield said, adding that all of the new young members are bright and energetic.

            Butterfield says the new CBC now has a “massive” agenda, with top priorities being saving the Affordable Act from further erosion (a Texas judge found it “unconstitutional” just before Christmas), and pushing for renewal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which the former Republican majority put on the backburner during its eight-year dominance.

            He also is hopeful that Congress and Trump can see eye-to-eye on funding much needed trillion dollar infrastructure across the country to fix crumbling roads and bridges. Butterfield says the black community benefits from such funding with needed jobs and infrastructure improvements where they live. 

            “Let’s hope there will be some bipartisanship,” Rep. Butterfield said when reminded that the Republican-majority Senate could stop much of what the Democratic controlled House passes.

            “As the popularity of Donald Trump goes down, and the Republicans see that Trump is bringing down their brand and viability, I think that you will see Republicans disregarding Pres. Trump, and dealing directly with Democrats in passing legislation.”

                                                                        -30-

            

            

            

            

THE CASH JOURNAL FOR 12-27-18 or 01-03-19

                                                                          JOYNER

                                                                     REV. BARBER

                                                              ATTY THOMAS FARR

BARBER SAYS HE HOPES

FARR WILL CHANGE

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

            Rev. Dr. William Barber says his “hope” is that defeated federal judicial candidate, Raleigh Attorney Thomas Farr, is not re-nominated for U.S. Senate confirmation when Congress begins its new term January 3^rd.

            “Rather I’d like to see him take a long vacation, and think about what he’s done [ in terms of racial politics],” said the former president of the NC NAACP, in response to a question at a Dec. 17^thpress conference outside of the NC Legislative Building.

Thanks to efforts by the NCNAACP, the press and others, the defeat of Raleigh Attorney Thomas Farr’s confirmation to a judicial seat in the Eastern District of North Carolina is just one of two handed to President Trump in the U.S. Senate this year.

            It was after NC NAACP Pres. Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman and a contingent of NAACP members from eleven chapters across the state went to Washington, D.C. a month, and lobbied senators not to confirm Farr’s nomination because of his documented racial history, that South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott, the Senate’s only African-American Republican, announced that he would vote “no,” along with outgoing Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, to stop Farr in his tracks.

            That was possible because the GOP only had a 51-49 lead in the Senate this term, meaning without Scott and Flake, even if Vice President Mike Pence is brought in, the vote is still one shy.

            But that won’t be the case come January 3rd, when the next Congress convenes, and the Republicans will have a 53-47 advantage over the Senate Democrats. Pres. Trump could easily re-nominate Thomas Farr to the Eastern District judicial seat, and unless three other Republicans join Sen. Scott in voting “no,” Farr’s nomination would be a sure thing.

            Given that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) prides himself on delivering the lion’s share of Pres. Trump’s judicial picks, observers say the possibility is not off the table.

            Farr, a former campaign attorney for the late segregationist Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC), who U.S. Justice Dept documents show was involved in in the Helms’ campaign’s 1984 and 1990 “ballot security” program to disenfranchise black democratic voters, is seen as a longtime Republican loyalist who has legally defended the voter ID and redistricting schemes of GOP legislative leadership, schemes that were ultimately ruled unconstitutional in the federal courts.

            Attorney Irving Joyner, Legal Redress Committee chair for the NC NAACP, says the possibility of Trump re-nominating Farr just to rankle his critics, is more likely than not.

            “I think that it is highly likely that Trump will re-nominate Farr to this judicial vacancy. In light of Farr's history,” atty. Joyner says. “It will be disgraceful for him to do so, but you should not expect Trump to deviate from his past racist and evil ways. Farr is exactly the type judge that Trump wants on the court and there is still sufficient Republican votes in the Senate which he can rely upon to achieve this goal. It is to be remembered that the number of Republican Senators increased during the 2018 election and Burr and Tillis are still major Farr backings. If Farr is not re-nominated for this judicial vacancy, I bet that he will end up with an appointment in the U.S. Justice Department.”

Rev. Barber is hopeful that Farr, whose nomination he vigorously campaigned against before he left the NC NAACP presidency in 2017, has seen the error of his ways in the face of 

unflinching opposition to his elevation to the federal bench, in a district which is home to over thirty percent of North Carolina’s African-American population.

            “My great prayer for Farr is that during this Christmas season…,” Barber told reporters on Dec. 17^th, “… he changes, repents, turns. I’d like to see him not be re-nominated again for the federal court, but to have a change of heart and come work for the NAACP and the Poor People’s Campaign.”

            As a crowd of supporters Around Rev. Barber laughed and cheered, the civil rights leader added, ‘I’m serious. I believe in redemption.”

            “But if he doesn’t, we’re not going to stop. If Trump and others do try to reappoint him, we’re going to fight him,” Barber vowed. “But I don’t believe they’re going to do that.”

                                                                        -30-

       

RELEASED REPORT CONFIRMS THAT

FEDS DID NOTHING ABOUT 2016

BLADEN ABSENTEE BALLOT ALLEGATIONS

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

            As first reported by the Black Press earlier this month, after the NC Board of Elections investigated allegations of absentee ballot harvesting in Bladen County against Leslie McCrae Dowless after the November 2016 election, and factually determined that they had merit, the BOE referred its findings to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District.

            But nothing happened.

            On Dec. 19^th, the state Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement released a January 23, 2018 report titled, “Exhibit 2.2.2.1,” confirming what the Black Press first and exclusively reported on December 13^th, that Dowless had been implicated in paying people to collect absentee ballots from voters, which is illegal in North Carolina.

            “Because the 2016 General Election was a Federal Election, and because of the seriousness of the alleged conduct associated with possible manipulation, or attempts to manipulate election results in Bladen County and elsewhere, these matters merit referral for prosecutorial review and possible criminal prosecution,” the report stated.

            “Additionally., in as much as there are possible federal violations of law, a decision was made by the state Board of Elections on December 3, 2016 to refer these matters to the United States Attorney’s Office for review.”   

            It was veteran Durham attorney Irving Joyner, who was representing the Bladen Improvement Association Political Action Committee (BIA) then, who shared that revelation with this newspaper several weeks ago after national media identified Dowless, a well-known Bladen County political operative and convicted felon, as the “person of interest’ at the center of the alleged 2018 election fraud controversy involving Republican Mark Harris and Democrat Dan McCready in the Ninth Congressional District race.

            Harris won that midterm election by a scant 905 votes over McCready, mostly by absentee ballots. However, the state Board of Elections refused to certified the race, noting that, once again, some of the same curious patterns involving absentee ballots from Bladen County in 2016 were evident. Multiple investigations are underway involving the state BOE, the Wake County District Attorney’s Office, the State Bureau of Investigation, and even, reportedly, the FBI.

            As first reported by the Black Press Dec. 20^th, the BIA-PAC had been accused by Dowless in 2016 of manipulating mail-in absentee-ballots. He was the District Soil and Water Conservation supervisor who was opposed by a write-in Democratic candidate named Franklin Graham. Graham’s name appeared on several straight Democratic tickets submitted on absentee ballots by voters the BIA-PAC worked with, and Dowless didn’t like it.

            He complained to the state BOE, and the McCrory Re-election Campaign and NC Republican Party followed suit, alleging that the Democratic Party-backed BIA-PAC was committing election fraud.

            But Dowless had problems of his own, as several complaints were filed against him by voters who alleged that he “…was paying certain individuals to solicit absentee request forms  and to collect absentee ballots from Bladen county voters. In doing so….,” the NCBOE report continued, “…workers employed by Dowless were required to hand-carry the ballots to Dowless in order to be paid.”

            “Dowless allegedly instructed his workers to “push” votes for certain candidates while meeting with voters,” the report added.

            Later in the NCBOE report, Dowless is alleged to have coached his workers on what to say to NCBOE investigators if contacted.

            Meanwhile, Dowless’ complaint NCBOE complaint against the BIA-PAC was probed, and officially determined that while some procedures were broken, there was no criminal or fraudulent intent, and none of the voters involved had any complaints against the BIA-PAC.

            The BOE officially dismissed it.

            However, the report continues that an attorney for then Gov. Pat McCrory, who was bitterly contesting his loss to Democratic challenger Roy Cooper, was actually behind the Dowless complaint against the BIA-PAC, alleging “…a massive scheme to run an absentee ballot mill involving hundreds of ballots, perpetrated by, and through the BIA-PAC.” The McCrory campaign attorney wanted those ballots disqualified.

            That case was referred to the US Attorney’s Office as well, but with the NCBOE note that it determined that no laws were broken. Laws were broken by Dowless in 2016, however, but until this day, there has been no action by federal authorities who knew about his activities going back at least two years ago.

                                                            -30-

NC NAACP Challenges Voter ID Law in Federal Lawsuit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 20, 2018 Contact: Joy Cook media@naacpnc.org NC NAACP Challenges Voter ID Law in Federal Lawsuit RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC NAACP State Conference and six branches of the NC NAACP representing voters from across the state today filed suit in the U.S. District Court of the Middle District of North Carolina under the Voting Rights Act and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution challenging the North Carolina General Assembly’s passage of a new discriminatory photo ID law. “This is a brazen effort by a lame-duck, usurper legislature to once again legislate voter suppression,” said Irv Joyner, Legal Redress Chair of the NC NAACP and counsel for the plaintiffs. “This law is designed to suppress the votes of people of color.  The federal courts have seen through this legislature’s attempts to do this before and we are confident that they will see through this current attempt, as well.” “Photo voter ID is never justified,” said Rev. Spearman, President of the NC NAACP.  “It is always discriminatory and immoral and has been the long-sought after voter suppression goal of this extremist legislature.  We are called upon once again to defend the sacred right to vote and we will not back down.” “Armed with the same information that led to the discriminatory bill struck down by the courts in 2016, the lame-duck General Assembly did it again,” said Kirkland & Ellis’s Dan Donovan, co-counsel for the Plaintiffs.  “Since the last voting bill was struck down, the legislature still has  not identified any problem with the voting process that needed to be solved or that justifies the burden this photo ID requirement impose on voting.” The NC NAACP requests the court for immediate relief, asking the Court to declare that the law violates federal law, and enjoin it from taking effect. For a copy of the complaint see: FILE STAMPED COMPLAINT                                                                             The NC NAACP and local branches are represented here by the non-profit racial justice organization, Forward Justice, Attorney Irving Joyner, and pro bono law firm counsel of Kirkland and Ellis LLP. Together this legal team served as counsel in NC NAACP v. McCrory on behalf of the NC NAACP and individual plaintiffs in the Federal challenge that invalidated the last iteration of Photo Voter ID and voting rights restrictions passed in 2013 as H.B. 589, in which the Fourth Circuit struck down as unconstitutional five racially discriminatory provisions of the 2013 “monster voter suppression law” (HB 589), after determining that the challenged provisions “target[ed] African Americans with almost surgical precision,” and “impose[d] cures for problems that did not exist.                                                  -30-

CBC CHALLENGES TRUMP, SOCIAL

MEDIA GROUPS ON RUSSIAN

ATTEMPTS TO SUPRESS BLACK VOTE

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

            In light of a recent report for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which revealed Russian attempts to suppress the black vote in 2016, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and the Congressional Black Caucus Diversity Task Force, co-chaired by representatives G.K. Butterfield (D-NC-1) and Barbara Lee (D-CA-13), called on President Donald Trump  “…to take the security of our elections seriously, and work with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the FBI to stop foreign election meddling efforts.”

            Considered the latest and most detailed account, thus far, of exactly how extensive Russian trolls were, not only in disrupting the 2016 U.S. presidential election, but skewing it in favor of Republican Donald Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton, the report titled, “The Tactics and Tropes of the Internet Research Agency (IRA),” documents how popular social media platforms were used to urge African-American voters to stay home on Election Day.

            Reviewing thousands of ads and posts on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube  and others, the research done by Computational Propaganda Project at Oxford University, and social media specialist Graphika, showed how among traditional Democratic Party support groups, African-Americans were particularly targeted with messages like, “No lives matter to Hillary Clinton. Only votes matter to Hillary Clinton,” among others. 

The St. Petersburg, Russia-based IRA began targeting Americans in 2014 before Trump officially announced for the presidency, initially drumming up primarily while, conservative Republicans tp prepare for the 2016 elections. When trump became the GOP nominee, researchers say IRA began focusing its attention towards pushing his campaign, and chipping away at Hillary Clinton by trying to demoralize the traditional Democratic Party base, most prominently African-Americans.

“The scale of their operation was unprecedented,” the report states. “They reached 126 million people on Facebook, at least 20 million users on Instagram, 1.4 million users on Twitter, and uploaded over 1,000 videos to YouTube. As Department of Justice indictments have recently revealed, this manipulation of American political discourse had a budget that exceeded $25 million USD and continued well into 2018.”

According to the report:

•   The most prolific IRA efforts on Facebook and Instagram specifically targeted Black American communities and appear to have been focused on developing Black audiences and recruiting Black Americans as assets. 
•   The IRA created an expansive cross-platform media mirage targeting the Black community, which shared and cross-promoted authentic Black media to create an immersive influence ecosystem. 
•   The IRA exploited the trust of their Page audiences to develop human assets, at least some of whom were not aware of the role they played. This tactic was substantially more pronounced on Black-targeted accounts. 

The Congressional Black Caucus and its Diversity Task Force says it wants to hear from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg and other social media company CEOs about what steps they are taking to make sure that their platforms are not “weaponized” against Americans again.

“We cannot allow the deceit and misinformation that characterized the 2016 elections to be repeated in the future,” the CBC said.

                 

THE CASH JOURNAL FOR 12-20-18

                                                                  MCCRORY

                                                                      DOWLESS

HOW MCCRORY TRIED TO FRAME 

BLACK BLADEN PAC WITH 2016 LOSS

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

            As the state, indeed, the nation, awaits the final conclusions involving alleged election fraud in Bladen County from the NC Board of Elections (whose hearing is now scheduled for Jan. 11th), the Wake County District Attorney’s Office the State Bureau of Investigation, and now even, reportedly, the Federal Bureau of Investigation; a group of local African-American residents known as the Bladen Improvement Association (BIA), a political action committee (PAC), is relieved that they are not in the crosshairs of yet another probe into their proven lawful electoral activities.

            But they know full well what it feels like to be investigated and falsely accused just because they’re black, help voters with their ballots, and have historically endorsed mostly Democrats.

            It was just two years ago when then first-term Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, having lost his bid for re-election in a close race to Democratic challenger and then-State Atty. Gen. Roy Cooper, falsely alleged that voter “malfeasance” and “irregularities” caused his defeat in several counties across the state, including Bladen.

            McCrory and his attorneys, along with the NC Republican Party, contended that thousands of votes in over 50 counties statewide were in question; charged that Democrats were responsible; and that “felons,” people who also voted in other states, and even “dead” people, were allowed to illegally cast ballots. His goal was either to win the race outright, or meet a legal threshold so that the Republican-led NC General Assembly would then, by law, choose the “winner” of the gubernatorial election – which McCrory assumed would be him.

            Two factors cast doubt on McCrory’s claims – Donald Trump and other GOP’ers won throughout North Carolina; and all of the county election boards which certified his race were led by Republicans.

            But that didn’t stop conservative media, like Red State.com, from taking up McCrory’s “voter fraud” crusade.

            “Did somebody say Democrat corruption?” bellowed the first line in its  Nov. 15, 2016 commentary.

            After noting that a complaint had been filed with the local Bladen County Board of Elections, “…in response to several hundred fraudulent absentee ballots, all voting a straight Democrat ticket…” it went on to allege, “The filed complaint described the situation as an “absentee ballot mill,” and it was perpetuated by the Bladen Improvement Association PAC (BIA), which is funded by the North Carolina Democrat Party.”

            And exactly who filed that complaint? None other than Leslie McCrae Dowless, the very same “person of interest” at the center of the current allegations involving illegal absentee ballot harvesting in the Mark Harris – Dan McCready Ninth Congressional District election fiasco.

            Dowless, who Republican Harris admits to knowing and hiring, is alleged to have coordinated and managed an operation during both the GOP primary last May, and the November 2018 mid-term elections, where people who worked for him illegally collected, or even changed the votes on unsealed absentee ballots distributed throughout Bladen County, ultimately delivering a 905-vote victory for Harris.

            But in 2016, it was Dowless who was claiming to be the victim of illegal absentee ballot shenanigans in his race for local Soil and Water Conservation District supervisor.

            Lawyers for the McCrory campaign latched on to Dowless’ Bladen election complaint, alleging that it was indicative of what was happening across the state. “The staggering evidence of voter fraud in Bladen County and the number of similar(read black) PACs that the North Carolina Democratic Party donated to shortly before the start of early vote requires close examination throughout the state.”

            Dowless, a convicted felon, alleged that the absentee ballots had the witness signatures of paid BIA members. Red State.com called this “shocking evidence.”

            The state Board of Elections (NCBOE) investigated, and found that nothing the BIA did was illegal. The witness signatures (two are required) were done at the time the voter signed their ballot, and the BIA canvassers also did GOTV (get out the vote). Indeed, their names were reported to the local and state BOE by BIA. There was nothing illegal about what they did, or BIA getting contributions from the state Democratic Party, or various Democratic candidates or elected officials to operate.

            In the end, not one absentee ballot the BIA worked with was deemed illegal, and Cooper ultimately defeated McCrory statewide after a recount by over 10,000 votes, weeks later.

            “The procedures, the methodology used by the (BIA) did not violate state law,” Atty. Joyner maintained the NCBOE ruled. “They had been trained by the state board, and did it the right way.”

            Burned by the experience, the BIA, and its attorney Joyner, braced for more false allegations this year, and decided not to engage in any absentee ballot activity for the 2018 midterm elections.

            It is most likely now, given what is known about allegations pointing towards Dowless and Harris, that the Bladen Improvement Association will not be targeted this time.

            But if so, BIA and atty. Joyner stand at the ready.

                                                                                    -30-

REV. BARBER BLAST VOTER ID LAW

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

            Rev. Dr. William Barber, president of Repairers of the Breach, and co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call to Revival, blasted the Republican-led NC legislature Monday for using the recently called special session primarily to pass a new voter photo ID law, instead of addressing the urgent needs of those suffering in the aftermath of September’s Hurricane Florence.

            “We call a special session in the season of Thanksgiving, Christmas and Advent, and this legislature could have taken that time to address the needs of poor people and sick people throughout North Carolina,” Rev. Barber said. Noting that at least one million people in North Carolina do not have health insurance, Barber chided state lawmakers for not using the special session time to extend Medicare to the poor – many of whom live in the flood ravaged counties affected by Hurricane Florence.

            The NC General Assembly did pass an initial $850 million hurricane recovery package in October, $450 million of which could be spent right away for construction, rebuilding damaged schools, or help some rebuild their homes.

            Still, critics say the amount was not enough to help the many victims still dealing with the aftereffects of 2016 Hurricane Matthew.

            “Thousands of people in those areas could benefit from a raise in the minimum wage, and a living wage, that would really help them recover. Did this legislature choose to hear their cries? No!” Rev. Barber roared.

            The former president of the NC NAACP charged that lawmakers chose to “…focus on an unnecessary photo ID bill, rather than deal with the real issues that are impacting North Carolinians.”

            Barber continued that there are currently lawsuits filed challenging how the voter ID, and other proposed amendments to the state constitution were placed on the referendum ballot . He also announced that the Poor People’s Campaign in supporting a NCNAACP lawsuit against how the legislature passed the laws calling for the “unconstitutional” amendments, challenging “the whole process in the first place.”

            Rev. Barber also announced that the Poor People’s Campaign is working on a “major, major ” statewide bus tour, and a “major poor people’s march on the state Capitol in the spring of 2019.

            “We are not going to be silent,” Barber vowed. “And we’re not going to stop fighting for the 4.7 million poor people in this state, and the over one million people who do not have health care.”

            To the press, Rev. Barber said the “story” isn’t that the legislature overrode Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto.

            “The story is they called this legislature back into session, it’s an unconstitutionally constituted legislature, and instead of all of the good things they could have done, to help the hurting, the broken and the poor people of this state, they chose to act contrary to our deepest moral values, and contrary to the season of Thanksgiving and Christmas, and contrary to our own [state] Constitution, that says “…the first duty …of a civilized and Christian state, is to provide beneficent provisions for the poor, the orphaned and the unfortunate,” Rev. Barber said.

            “This legislature …is out of order,” Barber concluded, “… and we have to continue to fight!”

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STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 12-20-18

STATE SENATE OVERRIDES GOV. COOPER’S VETO ON VOTER ID LAW

            [RALEIGH] Using the last days of its supermajority, the NC Senate voted to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the new voter photo ID law that passed the Republican-led legislature last week. Cooper blasted the law, say that it was a “solution in search of a problem,” but lawmakers countered that they had no choice but to pass it since voters ratified the voter ID amendment to the state Constitution during the midterm elections. The state House, at press time Tuesday, hadn’t voted to override yet, but that is expected by the end of the week.

BLADEN COUNTY RESIDENTS EXPRESS CONCERNS ABOUT BALLOT CONTROVERSY AT TOWN HALL MEETING

            [BLADENSBORO]Anger and frustration were on full display during a town hall meeting at First Baptist Church in Bladensboro Tuesday as residents came together, not only to listen to leaders like Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman of the NC NAACP commit to finding out the truth behind allegations that absentee ballots were illegally manipulated during the 2018 midterm election between 9^thDistrict Congressional candidates Mark Harris an Dan McCready. Several residents spoke of people coming to their homes and taking their unsealed ballots, even though that is illegal under North Carolina law. The stat Board of Elections has called for a hearing on the matter for Jan. 11^th.

WAKE SHERIFF RELEASES 19 UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

            [RALEIGH] The new sheriff of Wake County, Gerald Baker, has kept one of his campaign promises. Vowing, if elected, that his department would no longer work with agents of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in holding undocumented immigrants for possible deportation, Sheriff Baker released sixteen detainees from the county jail after they’d either served their term, or posted bond. Another 79 are being held for state charges, but Baker says they will soon be let go as well. Sheriff Baker is one of the newly elected sheriffs across the state who promised to no longer hold detainees for ICE.

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THE CASH JOURNAL FOR 12-13-18

                                                           LESLIE MCCRAE DOWLESS

                                                       BLADEN SHERIFF JIM MCVICKER

           ATTY. AL MCSURELY WITH FORMER BLADEN SHERIFF PRENTIS BENSTON

EXCLUSIVE

FORMER BLADEN BLACK SHERIFF

ALLEGES RACE, FRAUD LED TO DEFEAT

By Cash Michaels

            The former Bladen County sheriff, an African-American Democrat, alleges not only that he lost his re-election bid in 2014 because of some of the same election fraud allegations being probed now in the Rev. Mark Harris (R)– Dan McCready (D) Ninth District congressional contest, but he also believes that race was a factor as well. 

            “Race was an issue when I first ran…,” said former Bladen Sheriff Prentis Benston, “… and it’s going to remain an issue. I don’t know when it will be over with.”

In an exclusive interview Saturday, immediately after the NC NAACP Convention in Raleigh concluded, Benston, who served from 2010-2014 as sheriff, completing a 27-year career with the department, charged that Leslie McCrae Dowless, the two-time convicted felon and political operative hired by the Mark Harris campaign to “get out the vote,” also worked for Republican Jim McVicker, the current Bladen County sheriff who unseated Benston in 2014.

            “Yes, as of the 2014 election, the absentee balloting process [was] not being done above board,” Benston replied when asked if he was a victim of election “fraud” then. That fraud allegedly involved unsealed ballots from black elderly and/or afflicted voters that could be manipulated before being turned in.

            “Certainly we have found out that [Dowless’] way of doing absentee ballots through going out and picking them up from voters (which is illegal), [along with] the improper witnessing of absentee ballots (also illegal),” Benston maintained.

Now the 2018 McVicker re-election campaign has admitted that Dowless was on their payroll again, this time to help defeat African-American Democratic challenger Hakeem Brown, a former Bladen County deputy under Benston.

            Brown has not made any public allegations yet, but the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement [SBEEE] has subpoenaed records from the McVicker re-election campaign, especially after the campaign admitted to paying Dowless $8,800 between September 2017 and September 2018, according to campaign finance records.

            Sources say whatever alleged election fraud impacted the Harris-McCready race, could have easily affected the McVicker – Brown contest too, especially if Dowless was involved. 

Sheriff McVicker defeated Brown 52-48 percent.

A Dec. 21^stSBEEE hearing is scheduled that could determine whether Brown files a formal complaint in his race.

Amazingly the state BOE actually cited Dowless in 2016 with doing exactly the same thing in the Benston-McVickers race that he’s accused of doing in the Harris-McCready race now. Attorney Irv Joyner said that the state BOE referred  that evidence to the US Attorney for the Eastern District at the time, who did nothing.

“The office of sheriff is an office that requires a person to be of high standards,” Benston said, noting that Bladen Sheriff’s Dept policy prohibits its officers from associating with known felons unofficially, let alone hiring them. “Certainly, I support the investigation to remove any corruption, or corrupt individual from that position.”

In addition, African-American officials of the Bladen Improvement Association (BIA) – the nonpartisan black political action committee that endorses candidates - are bracing themselves for what they say will, once again, be unfounded accusations of election fraud from Republicans who are desperate to deflect attention on their Ninth District controversy from the national media.

            In 2016, then-Republican Gov. Pat McCrory falsely accused the BIA of mishandling absentee ballots when he was narrowly defeated by Democrat Roy Cooper. After an investigation by the state BOE, the BIA was cleared. That didn’t stop Republicans and conservative media from maintaining that because BIA accepts money from the NC Democratic Party and its members that it had to be “corrupt.” 

            Prentis Benston, who is also chair of the BIA, insists that the group has endorsed Republicans too and has operated transparently since the 1960s. And if the GOP insists on trying to smear them again per the 2018 midterms, they’re in for a surprise.

            The BIA deliberately did not engage in any absentee balloting work during the 2018 midterms, atty. Joyner revealed.

            But that fact, he says, probably won’t stop the NC Republican Party from accusing the BIA of something again.

                                                            -30-

                 DR. SPEARMAN WELCOMES GOV. COOPER TO THE NCNAACP CONVENTION IN RALEIGH

                     MRS. ROSA NELL EATON, SEEN HERE WITH NC NAACP PRES. DR. T. ANTHONY SPEARMAN, DIED LAST WEEKEND. MS. EATON WAS A PLAINTIFF IN THE SUCCESSFUL LAWSUIT AGAINST THE 2013 VOTER ID LAW

            

“COME TOGETHER AND BUILD 

POWER,” SAYS NCNAACP PREZ

By Cash Michaels

Contributing writer

            The only way to fight harder, and stronger for equal justice, is to “…come together and build power,” Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman, fifth president of the NC NAACP said Saturday, during the State of the State of Civil Rights address at the 75^thAnnual Convention in Raleigh of the NC conference of branches.

Echoing the words of the NAACP’s national board Chairman Leon Russell, Spearman told membership gathered from across the state, “…it’s time to organize and not agonize. Try as you may to find it, there is no half-way ground between right and wrong. Either the one or the other must prevail. And I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna push right with all my might.”

Dr. Spearman emphasized the need for the NCNAACP and its branches statewide to intensify their political action and community action activities “…to build a strategic year-round GOTV (get out the vote) curriculum going forward.” 

“Certainly we must preach the gospel of morality and the NC NAACP has, but when your civil and political rights are being encroached upon every hour we must also preach the gospel of organization,” The NC NAACP president maintained. “People who will not organize and put themselves under the wisest and best of their leaders cannot expect other people to look after their interests.” 

Spearman also declared that the civil rights group must recommit itself to fighting voter suppression. 

“We must find ways of fostering an inclusive, informed and more resolute electorate,” he said. “This will take an approach that considers comprehensive voter outreach, education, civic engagement and community organizing and power-building. In short, we must broaden the framing of the problem of voter suppression and craft tools for fighting it. The new wave of voting restrictions demands it.” 

The NC NAACP president blasted the recent “lame duck” session of the Republican-led NC General Assembly, which convened to pass new voter photo ID legislation based on their ratified voter ID amendment that Spearman considers yet another extension of the GOP’s voter suppression efforts. 

“The NC NAACP contends that this General Assembly did not have the authority to place any amendments on the ballot by virtue that it is an unconstitutionally constituted body. It falls into the category of “usurper” government.” 

Spearman continued, “There really is nothing new under the sun here in the state of North Carolina, lest we forget the year was 1898 when Alfred Moore Waddell, the ex-congressman from black belt Wilmington, told an election evening crowd to “go to the polls tomorrow and if you find the Negro out voting, tell him to leave the polls and if he refuses, kill him, shoot him down in his tracks.” 

On Friday, Gov. Roy Cooper visited the convention. The gubernatorial visit was notable because last year, then NC NAACP Pres. Rev. Dr. William Barber refused to invite the Democratic governor because he would not look into the Dontae Sharpe case, a black man supporters say was falsely convicted of a crime he did not commit.

The convention also had to be abbreviate to just a day-and-a-half because of an impending snowstorm that threatened to trap many convention attendees in Raleigh if they didn’t adjourn by 12 noon Saturday.

The convention weekend ended on a sad note. 

NCNAACP members received word Sunday of the passing of 97-year-old Rosa Nell Eaton, a plaintiff in the NC NAACP’s successful lawsuit against the Republican-led NC General Assembly and its 2013 voter photo I.D. law, which was eventually overturned by a federal court. “ While we mourn, at the same time, we celebrate. We celebrate her steadfastness and her strength. We celebrate her commitment and her conviction. We celebrate her righteousness and her resolve. What an inspiration it was to watch her lead the way for us to fight and win the monstrous voter suppression bill of all,” Dr. Spearman said in a press release Sunday. “Mother Eaton kept her eye on the prize.”

                                                            -30-

STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 12-13-18

            

THREE DEATHS REPORTED DURING STATEWIDE SNOWSTORM

            [RALEIGH] At press time Tuesday, at least three deaths were attributed to the monster snowstorm that crippled the state Sunday and Monday. A truck driver succumbed to a heart attack while digging his rig out of the snow along Interstate 77 in Yadkin County Sunday. A woman in hospice care in Haywood County dies when her oxygen supply was cut off due to a power outage. And a driver in Charlotte was killed when a tree fell on his vehicle Sunday afternoon. Thousands of homes and businesses across the state experienced power outages, as residents had to dig out amidst upwards of 12 inches of snow.

UNC HEALTH CARE TO RAISE MINIMUM TO $15.00 PER HOUR

            [CHAPEL HILL] All employees of the UNC Health Care System will, as of July 19^th, earn a minimum of $15.00 per hour. The move is to “…attract and retain a talented workforce” said the system through a press release issued Tuesday. The increase is more than double the national and state minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, and will affect 9,000 employees, costing the system $15 million annually.

RALEIGH WOMAN HELD IN WHITE SUPREMACIST ATTACK ON BLACK DISC JOCKEY

            [SEATTLE, WASH] The FBI is investigating an alleged attack by suspected white supremacists over the weekend on a black disc jockey at a local tavern, and one of the suspects is a white woman from Raleigh. Leah Northcraft, 25, is identified as being one of eight suspects who, according to authorities, who entered the Rec Room Bar and Grill, beat and stomped the black disc jockey as they tried to take over his equipment, calling him racial slurs in the process. They also attacked an Asian man who came to assist the DJ. Police apprehended the suspects as they attempted to get away. Court papers identify the suspects as being members of the Aryan Brotherhood.

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