North Carolina voters urged to keep participating in elections regardless of party affiliation
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Bishop William Barber delivered a message to North Carolina voters Monday, urging people to continue participating in elections regardless of political affiliation as a court fight over mail-in ballots continues.
The remarks came as voting is already underway in North Carolina.
Absentee ballots began going out Friday, Sept. 4.
Barber joined other faith and civil rights leaders in criticizing the Trump administration's proposed restrictions on how ballots move through the mail.
Their comments followed a ruling by a second federal judge that halted the administration's executive order aimed at changing election rules.
The administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow new U.S. Postal Service requirements to take effect. Those requirements would include states providing voter information and using approved ballot envelopes with unique barcodes.
The Trump administration has said the changes are intended to protect election integrity. Speaking Monday, Barber and other local faith and civil rights leaders argued that changing election procedures during the voting period could create confusion for voters.
"So what do you do if you want to cheat? You create confusion? Yes, that's right. You create confusion. People don't know if their ballots won't be counted or not going to be counted in the rules that if one is mixed, messed up at the send, the whole batch back is creating confusion and we don't know what else he may do," Barber said.
Barber also urged broad voter participation regardless of political views. "I don't care what Democrat or Republican, what your color is, what your agenda is. You should be outraged about people trying to steal democracy. The basic fundamentals. Yes. Yeah. That's right. We want everybody to vote. This is voted out. Yes. That's voting out, right? That's right. Let's put the policies out there. Put the candidates out there. Let's vote it out," he said.
North Carolina election officials have said the state's ballot envelopes have already been approved by the Postal Service. Officials also said they are continuing to move forward with the election process while the legal challenge remains ongoing.
