CHARLOTTE — A growing number of former and current elected leaders across the country is trying to educate voters on how the election process actually plays out. The goal is to get rid of the conspiracies and doubts and instead, explain how it all works with the hope of putting trust back in our election system.
A notable name right here in Charlotte is helping with the movement: Former Charlotte mayor and North Carolina governor Pat McCrory.
“We need a basic civics lesson on how voting works,” McCrory told the Political Beat’s Hunter Sáenz.
McCrory has his own history with the election process. In 2016, the Republican governor was running for reelection against then-Attorney General Roy Cooper. Late on election night, Cooper surged ahead due to a batch of about 90,000 early votes in Durham County that were reported late.
“Well, it’s pretty tough when you’re declared the winner by many networks at 11:15 at night and then some votes come in at 11:45 which switches the outcome,” McCrory said.
He asked for a manual recount. His supporters claimed the election was stolen and there was voter fraud. But no irregularities were found and, after doing his own research, McCrory conceded.
“I came to some logical calculations. There was no way they could have rigged it and not rigged it for other people,” he said.
With the deep divisions in America today, McCrory is partnering with Right Count, a nonprofit hoping to boost integrity in our elections, especially in battleground states. They’re shooting ads intended to educate voters.
“Especially when our nation is so divided and people have such strong feelings about either Harris or Trump, one of them is going to lose,” McCrory said. “And therefore, a large number of people are going to lose and the immediate thing will be, ‘I didn’t trust the system.’ So now is the time to communicate to people, before the voting starts.”
Restoring faith
According to a recent Gallup poll, 86% of Democrats have faith in the accuracy of election results. Only 28% of Republicans share that faith.
“We’ve got to explain the ways you can vote, we have to explain the process, what happens to that ballot, and also the process after the election is over regarding the rules of recounting,” McCrory said.
He wants people to understand that each state has different election rules. It’s a freedom granted to states by the Constitution. He’s also trying to help people understand changes in North Carolina since the last presidential election.
“Voter ID for the first time in a presidential election, paper ballots backup, no connection to the internet,” McCrory said.
It’s a movement to lower the temperature of the most heated political environment of this generation. Their goal is to get you to slow down and understand the process.
“Because if we don’t do this, my fear — which I hope doesn’t come true — is that division, that emotion, can come out on the streets. And we cannot afford that in our country,” McCrory said.
It’s a reality we saw on the infamous Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington. It was a day McCrory and so many others don’t want to see repeated.
“We have an imperfect voting system, but it’s still the best system in the world,” he said.
“Allow the process to work, allow us to make continuous improvements in the system, and ask the right questions — but wait for the right answers, too,” he said.
To learn more about Right Count, click here.
(WATCH BELOW: Former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory discusses Mark Robinson’s controversial comments)
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