Mar. 17, 2008
Will Lawmakers Answer SOS from Elections Board?
By John Thompson
RALEIGH - In North Carolina’s war on political corruption, Gary Bartlett stands at the helm of one of our biggest battleships as the executive director of the State Board of Elections. But that ship is currently overwhelmed and understaffed as it patrols the turbulent waters of Tar Heel politics.
This is an SOS for Bartlett and his valiant crew.
Anyone who has served in the military knows all too well that resources are limited. You can only hope that your higher-ups respond to your request for reinforcements. Instead of waiting, you accomplish your mission by making do, forging ahead and adapting to reality on the ground.
In a recent visit, I asked Bartlett if his office had the resources necessary to fulfill its mission of protecting the integrity of our election system. He replied with a look that conveyed the frustration of having too few staff members to handle this Herculean task.
His office faces a two-year backlog on cases as it investigates an underbelly of political corruption that has emerged from the back ally of state politics, exemplified by the dramatic fall of former Speaker Jim Black and the current controversies surrounding state Rep. Thomas Wright. At the same time, Bartlett and his staff are bracing for primary and general elections that could see record voter turnout.
The State Board of Elections is also charged with patrolling politics well beyond the Raleigh Beltline, standing guard against what might be called “trickle-down corruption.” While perhaps on a smaller scale than scandals emanating from state government, the skullduggery in county and local politics uncovered by Bartlett’s office is just as destructive to our democracy as the unseemly trade made at an infamous IHOP bathroom.
Recent headlines in Asheville and Lumberton declared, respectively, “Hammer coming down on Medford’s Mafia” and “Councilman alleges vote buying in Lumberton election.” These are just two examples among many that point to the work of Bartlett and his crew extending across a state now among the ten most populous in the nation.
Even in the face of such strain, Bartlett is determined to continue on with the mission, to overcome his scant resources and to give North Carolina voters renewed confidence in their election system.
As we finished our conversation, he persistently and humbly refused to say what must be said. And so I will: With the weeds of corruption choking Tar Heel politics, and a historic election fast approaching, lawmakers on Jones Street must give the State Board of Elections the resources necessary to protect our democratic system.
Soon, state legislators will return to Raleigh for a short legislative session. Gathering in the very chamber where their disgraced former speaker once stood, and where they now consider the expulsion of one of their colleagues, lawmakers will have ample, tangible reminders of the urgent need to support the board of elections.
The request I make on behalf of Bartlett is modest and specific: The renewal of three current positions set to expire this year and the addition of seven more. The price is estimated to be $653,903 -- a bargain when compared to the cost incurred by the people of North Carolina if our election system is left unprotected.
Whether or not state lawmakers answer this SOS, Bartlett and his crew will continue on with their mission of ferreting out corruption. But legislators who balk at this modest request of reinforcements for the State Board of Elections will seem to have sipped on nepenthes, the drink Homer described in his Odyssey as banishing grief and trouble from the mind.
If the fall from grace of several prominent peers is not enough to sober them to the need for a fully staffed board of elections, then surely more scandal awaits.
John Thompson is the executive director of the N.C. Center for Voter Education, a Raleigh-based nonprofit and nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving elections in North Carolina.
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