Coleman Legal Team identifies 500 voters who registered correctly but whose votes are scheduled to not be counted in final canvass; thousands more expected to be found
Coleman Legal Team submits public record request for copies of all rejected provisional ballot envelopes
Raleigh, NC—The Linda Coleman Legal Team today released more than 500 names of properly registered voters who are scheduled to have their votes discarded when local boards conduct final canvassing on Friday, November 16th. The team believes that this initial list will reach into the thousands ahead of the Canvass Day. These voters, based on data received from the board of elections, are properly registered to vote, yet local boards of elections have placed their provisional ballots in the “do not count” pile.
“These are registered voters whose names never made it on to the voter rolls,” Coleman said. “Somewhere along the way the system let these people down, and we want local boards to take notice of these individuals and ensure their voice is heard in this election.”
The Coleman Legal Team has worked aggressively since Election Day to ascertain why as many as 50,000 voters were given provisional ballots on Election Day. Provisional ballots are given to voters when they attempt to vote, but precinct election officials fail to find their name on the voting rolls, among other reasons.
“All of these people registered to vote and expected their vote to count,” Coleman said. “Now, their votes are scheduled to be thrown away. We know this isn’t right—that’s taking away the most fundamental right of a citizen in our democracy.”
Coleman is asking that local boards review these voters’ ballots again and schedule each one to be counted.
“We don’t know which candidates these voters marked on their ballots, and we don’t care,” Coleman said. “What we do care about is that every vote is counted and every citizen’s voice is heard.”
Additionally, The Linda Coleman Legal Team has asked the State Board of Elections for copies of the provisional ballot envelopes. Her team plans to crosscheck them with the Board of Elections public records to make sure every valid ballot is counted in this Friday’s canvass.
