North Carolina Dems Ask For Improved Vote-by-Mail Procedures

The Coronavirus has the potential to greatly reduce turnout in the 2020 election. Even if the social distancing rules ease this summer, there is a possibility that new infections could ramp up in the Fall, as they did in the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. In a conference call this week, Cal Cunningham said that in 1918, a congressional election year, voter turnout was 40%.

Absentee voting by mail will be more important than ever in 2020. Last week, the North Carolina Democratic Party outlined a set of priorities in a letter to the State Board of Elections to mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the election.

“North Carolina Democrats are committed to ensuring that every North Carolinian, even in times of crisis, are able to easily cast a ballot and make their voice heard. These common sense changes will make voting remotely more accessible, easier, and more transparent,” said NCDP Chair Wayne Goodwin.

The list of priorities includes:

Establish a one-step process for registering to vote and requesting a mail-in ballot.
Provide prepaid postage for mailed ballot requests and ballots.
Allow voters to request mail-in ballots by email, fax, online form, or over the phone and honor requests submitted by the one-week deadline.
Allow voters and those assisting voters to return mail-in ballots at One-Stop Early Voting sites and Election Day polling places (including curbside).

Read the party's full letter here. If you want to get a jump on the voting by mail process, you can access an application for a mail-in ballot here. You will be asked to complete a fillable PDF, and to send it to the New Hanover County Board of Elections. If you send it in now, it will reduce the burden on the Board of Elections this fall.

NHCDP Uses New Tools To Connect With Democrats During Social Distancing

The New Hanover County Democratic Party has been exploring new tools to reach Democrats in 2020. We can't let this time go to waste.

Because of the coronavirus, we need to switch to virtual meetings, so we purchased a subscription to Zoom a videoconferencing tool that enables online meetings. To familiarize all of us with this new technology, we held our first Virtual Happy Hour last Monday. The goal is to help people feel less isolated and create an online community of Democrats that will help us to win in December.

We're holding another online gathering today at 7 p.m., this time with Representative Deb Butler, and several statewide candidates. The virtual happy hour will provide an easy opportunity for New Hanover Democrats to get comfortable with video teleconferencing using the Zoom service.

Details about the Happy Hour are included below. We ask you to join us on these calls. We need to build our audience, and hope to soon begin presenting more candidate town halls. Cal Cunningham held a Zoom Town Hall last Tuesday (screen shot above). Governor Cooper is holding one tomorrow (see below).

Please help us build our audience base for these events by encouraging others to join. Even folks with busy lives and children can find time to sign in to a video teleconference.

Clueless Woody White Echos Trump's Dangerous Push to Shorten Social Distancing Campaign

New Hanover County Commissioner Woody White wrote an opinion piece published in WilmingtonBiz last week questioning whether North Carolina citizens should continue fighting COVID-19 by staying home and keeping some businesses temporarily shut down. White's opinion lines up with President Trump's. Trump said last week that he wants to reopen the country for business by Easter, though he has since waffled on that date.

White wrote a March 23 opinion piece titled Life Needs to Go On, in Wilmington Biz. Seemingly unaware that state and local government officials are responding to the fact that North Carolinians are dying of this infectious disease at rapidly increasing rates, White argued that restrictions have gone too far, and that the beaches should be reopened, despite the fact that they are a magnet for travellers from other parts of North Carolina and other states.

Even Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a close Trump ally, urged Trump to stick with the advice of public health officials. “There is no functioning economy unless we control the virus,” he warned on Twitter.

White, a Republican, did not seek reelection to the County Commission and will leave office at the end of the year. Democrats Jonathan Barfield Jr., who is an incumbent, and Leslie Cohen and Kyle Horton are running for the commission in November, and we think their judgement and compassion would make a welcome change from White. Our Democratic Governor, Roy Cooper, ordered a statewide stay-at-home order, effective today, that recognizes the danger of letting our guard down prematurely.

New Hanover County Public Library Offers Diversions

Looking for something to do while staying home? The local public library buildings are closed but library services are open and operating under temporary social distancing rules. Drive-by pick-up service is available Monday through Friday from 10 am. to 2 p.m., and librarians are available for online and phone chats weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. New Hanover County Public Library also has a selection of e-books and e-magazines and other materials you can access online. The library is even offering story time for children online.

Future public events include an April 6 online auction of surplus library materials, a May 2 "Virtual 5K Run," and online genealogy search assistance. To see the library's latest newsletter, click here. Or to visit the New Hanover County Public Library website, click here.

EVENTS

NHCDP Virtual Happy Hour -- March 30

When: Monday, March 30, 7 p.m.

Where: Zoom

To join the Happy Hour from your laptop or iPad (recommended) click here: https://zoom.us/j/226689181

You can also click that link on a Desktop or smartphone if you don't have a laptop or iPad, but the video may not work well.

To connect by phone (audio only):

One tap mobile:

+16465588656,,226689181#

Or Dial:

+1 646 558 8656

Meeting ID: 226 689 181

If you need help logging in to the Virtual Happy Hour, we will have two volunteers standing by tol help you get in: Jim Fleagle at (919) 426-3355 and Stephanie Fetzer at (704) 309-3918. Learning how to use this technology is important because it is how we will be holding meetings going forward, including the County Convention.

Roy Cooper Wilmington Videoconference -- March 31

When: Tuesday, March 31, 6 p.m.

Where: Zoom

Governor Cooper is holding a videoconference for New Hanover folks in lieu of a planned in-person event. To register for the event, click here.

NHCDP Virtual Happy Hour -- April 5

When: Monday, April 5, 7 p.m.

Where: Zoom

New Hanover County Democratic Party Convention -- April 25

When: Saturday, April 25 (tentative)

Where: Online

7th Congressional District Convention -- May 16

When: Saturday, May 16 (tentative)

Where: Online

State Convention -- June 6

When: Saturday June 6

Where: TBD

We need to elect At-Large delegates to the Democratic National Convention at this meeting. For details about becoming a Delegate, click here. We will be in touch about plans for the convention.

Best,

Richard Poole, Chair

News Content by James Cummings

If you have any announcements, comments, questions or concerns regarding this email series, please contact the Editor here.

Paid for by the New Hanover County Democratic Party

Mailing Address:

NHCDP

PO Box 3036

Wilmington, NC 28406

Office Address:

5041 New Centre Drive

Wilmington, NC 28403

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