What NC Counties Are at the Highest Risk of Losing Funds Because of a Census Under- Count? Find Out Now.
March 16, 2010
With 2010 Census forms due in mailboxes this week, a new analysis shows that one fourth of North Carolina’s counties are at a high risk of losing millions of dollars in future federal funding because a significant portion of their residents will likely not mail back a completed Census form.
Another one fourth of the counties face an elevated risk of losing money, because they have a history of low mail-back rates in past census years or a significant share of residents who typically have low response rates, such as families living in poverty or in substandard housing.
“More than $400 billion in federal funds are allocated each year based on the population count or about $1,500 per person,” said Bob Hall, director of Democracy North Carolina, the nonpartisan group that conducted the analysis. “For every 1,000 residents not counted, a county could lose $1.5 million a year for school programs, health care, job training, housing, senior centers and more.”
Download and read the entire press release here.
Study Shows Voters in NC Are More Independent, Urban, Non-White And Young
January 25, 2010
A new county-by-county analysis of North Carolina voters points to dramatic shifts in the past decade that will likely influence campaign strategy for hot elections this year for Richard Burr’s US Senate seat and for control of the General Assembly. “The growth of urban and suburban counties and surge of independent voters means the political parties must scramble to win elections with a smaller share of reliably loyal voters on their side,” said Bob Hall of the election watchdog group Democracy North Carolina. “Stereotypes of the Republican rural conservative and the straight-ticket, African-American Democrat are giving way to a more complex profile of the North Carolina electorate.”
Download and read the entire press release here.
Download and review the underlying research report here.
Statement by Executive Director Bob Hall on the Citizens United v. FEC Decision
January 22, 2010
“Today’s distressing, but predictable decision is another step by the U.S. Supreme Court to turn public elections into private auctions.
We already see how wealthy interests can distort the debates over health care, energy and financial reform; we don’t need corporations to have more ability to intimidate lawmakers with the threat of massive spending in their elections. The Court’s decision encourages a “pay to play” system and treats common-sense regulation of the flow of money in politics as a restriction on free speech. It is not: Previous court decisions said the content of speech is protected from censorship, but the financing of a political message must follow certain rules to protect the integrity of the election process. The majority on this Court disagrees and intends to give more power to wealthy corporations, foreign or domestic, non-profit or for-profit, even if their spending undermines the chance for a fair election or fair debate on a policy matter….”
See the complete statement here.
Review our overview of the Citizens United decision here.
State Legislators Receive Democracy NC’s Sunshine Award, Marking A Year Focused On Openness In NC Government
December 19, 2009
Thirty-two state legislators are receiving a surprise Christmas present this week – a “Sunshine Award” from the watchdog group Democracy North Carolina. The biennial award is given to lawmakers who file “superior” reports disclosing details about their campaign expenses and donations.
Award winners include 20 House members and 12 state Senators. The list has 22 Democrats led by House Speaker Joe Hackney and Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight and 10 Republicans led by Paul Stam and Tom Apodaca. Winners represent all parts of the state and include newcomers David Guice and Sandra Hughes and senior veteran R.C. Soles.
“Our staff and interns evaluated the reports of all 170 legislators elected in 2008 and found these 32 went well beyond the minimum of the law to give the public valuable information about where they get their campaign money and how it’s spent,” said Bob Hall, the group’s executive director. “The quality of reporting has greatly improved in the past five years and dozens of legislators are doing a good job, especially with the help of well-trained campaign treasurers,” he said.
Award winners: (1) filed their six reports in 2007-2008 on time and in an accessible format, (2) listed the purpose and recipient of 99% expenses over $50 and (3) provided economic interest or employer information for 99% of the dozens of individuals who gave more than $50 to their campaign.”
Download and read the entire press release here.
North Carolinians Across the Political Spectrum Support Public Campaign Financing to Address Corruption
December 9, 2009
The third poll in a month shows that most North Carolinians believe there’s too much corruption in state politics – but this new one by Public Policy Polling also reveals that a bipartisan majority of voters believe changing the campaign financing system would be an effective way to address the pressures that lead to political corruption.
An unusually broad range of North Carolina members of Congress apparently agree. They are now backing a bill to provide qualified Congressional candidates with the option of using public financing in their campaigns.
To qualify for public funds, the candidates would first have to raise hundreds of small donations from voters and refuse donations from special-interest groups.
Download and read the entire press release here.
Amendment to State Board of Elections re Mike Easley Committee and Related Improper Contributions
October 29, 2009
To: State Board of Elections
Date: October 29, 2009
Re: Amendment to Complaint Filed on July 13, 2009
Here are some details about the “Governor’s Fund” within the NC Democratic Executive Committee (Account 1000.75), which indicates how the Party was used as a conduit for the Mike Easley Committee. The income for the Governor’s Fund for 2000 is Exhibit 29. A similar listing from the NC Democratic Party’s “Working NCDP Data” for the 2004 Election has not been provided. Exhibit 29 shows funds donated by individuals, businesses, and the Democratic National Committee that were credited to Account 1000.75 – “The Governor’s Fund.”
Read more by downloading the complete letter here.
Letter to the State Board of Elections Regarding the Wake County Board Of Education District 2 Run-off
October 25, 2009
Dear Mr. Chairman and Members of the Board,
I write to urge you not to intervene and stop the runoff election now underway for the District 2 seat on the Wake County Board of Education. There are a number of reasons to allow the election to run its course.
Read more by downloading the complete letter here.
Letter to State Board of Elections about Mike Easley Committee and Improper Contributions
July 13, 2009
Larry Leake, Chair
State Board of Elections
PO Box 27255
Raleigh, NC 27611
Dear Mr. Leake,
Congratulations on your re-appointment to the State Board of Elections. Now that all the members for the State Board have been appointed, I encourage you to convene a hearing that focuses on possible violations of election law related to the Mike Easley Committee and travel gifts first revealed in newspaper articles this spring. I’m confident the Board staff is conducting a thorough investigation and hope the people involved in that inquiry are cooperating. I look forward to the Board bringing as much sunshine as possible on this matter in the near future.
This letter provides additional details not previously reported in the media. We are particularly concerned about possible election law violations involving a significant number of individuals who are major political donors, who own airplanes or automobile dealerships, and who provided transportation services for the Easley campaign or family. At the end of this letter is a chart showing 11 people who fit this description. Together with their families and close business associates, they donated a total of $380,000 to Mike Easley’s 2000 and 2004 gubernatorial campaigns. Most of them also received appointments to various state boards, making them public officials in one capacity or another.
In addition, based on new information from our research of campaign disclosure reports (see page 3), we are concerned that the NC Democratic Party was apparently used as a conduit for travel-related and other contributions that would violate campaign contribution limits if given directly to the Mike Easley Committee.
Download the complete complaint letter here.
Statement on Citizens United Case
September 9, 2009:
by Bob Hall, Democracy NC Executive Director
Talk about “judicial activism”! Through a series of remarkably aggressive procedures, a majority on the US Supreme Court seems determined to give new powers, even personal traits, to inanimate entities that amass money through commercial transactions, namely corporations. The Court could have kept the focus of the Citizens United case on whether the group’s video about Hillary Clinton should be subject to the McCain-Feingold federal law that regulates electioneering through the broadcast media. It could have, for example, ruled that the video was provided to viewers at their request via the Internet, not widely pushed onto them through the airwaves. But the Court took a different route…
Learn more at Citizens United Case.
2009 Releases
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