It’s too late to do it for this election, but with all this talk of election fraud and ineligible voters that former President Donald Trump has been asserting over the last four years, it’s good to know that any registered voter in Guilford County, if they believe someone has registered to vote unlawfully, is free to submit their evidence and get the case heard by the Guilford County Board of Elections.

And the same goes for the registered voters in other North Carolina counties: They can also have someone brought before the board of elections in their county and have a voter’s registration stripped away if they can convince the board that the person isn’t qualified to vote.

Among the claims that have been made by the former president and others, is that many people – illegal immigrants in large part – are voting.  However, one thing that should give some people some solace is that, if they know of an instance in which a person shouldn’t be registered, they can take action and get something done about it.

The process is almost never used in Guilford County.

Guilford County Elections Director Charlie Collicutt, when asked about voter registration challenges in the county, said he can’t remember exactly the last time it happened; however, he believes it may have been in 2018.

Anyone who knows how to use the internet can find out who’s registered to vote as well as see their party affiliation and history of casting votes – even including the past methods they used to vote.

Collicutt said he feels the coming election is very safe, not just in this regard but in other regards as well.

He said that voters in Guilford County can believe in the integrity of the process because there are so many checks in place.

The process of collecting and counting votes is a rigorous and closely observed one, he said.

“We will have people watching the count – mostly they will be bored,” Collicutt said of the coming November vote count since it’s not a very exciting process to watch.

He said he hears from people regarding all kinds of fantastical methods one could use to cheat, but, in reality, he said, he believes the current protections in place are very, very strong.

Also, Collicutt said, there are extremely stiff penalties in the law for those who attempt to do things that may add an extra vote or two into the vote count. So there is a very large price to pay for a minimal advantage.

However, if someone does see something wrong taking place, they’re always free to point it out to members of the Guilford County Board of Elections.

A voter challenge questions “the right of any person to register, remain registered or vote” in the county.

There are three types of voter challenges: (1) voter registration challenges (2) absentee ballot challenges, and (3) in-person ballot challenges.

Voters in North Carolina can only be challenged for the reasons listed in the state’s General Statutes.

Here are the allowable reasons to question someone’s voter registration in any North Carolina county:

  • The person isn’t a resident of the state, county, precinct or municipality.
  • The person is under 18 years of age – or, if the challenge is made within 60 days of a primary – will not be 18 by the next general election.
  • The person is serving a felony sentence (including any probation, post-release supervision, or parole).
  • The person is dead.
  • The person isn’t a citizen of the United States.
  • Or, the person is not “who they present themselves to be.”

Also, provisional ballots aren’t subject to challenges.  In those cases, a county’s board of elections determines a provisional voter’s eligibility according to research done by elections board staff during the canvassing period.

Challenges have to be made on a “Voter Challenge Form” created by the State Board of Elections.

The challenge can be brought by any registered voter in the same county.

Challenges are adjudicated through a formal hearing process before the county board of elections or precinct officials. This is done because it offers “due process” to the voter in question.

The state board provides the following information, “Voter Challenge Forms online at the State Board’s website. A separate form must be used for each voter challenged and must be signed under oath by the challenger. Any available evidence being offered to support the challenge must be attached to the form.”

Also, any challenge has to be filed by the voter registration deadline, which is 25 days before Election Day – and, when it comes to challenges based on “generic, non-individualized evidence,” they can’t be brought within 90 days before a federal election.

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