NC state rep calls state’s new curbside voting warning signs ‘intimidating’

State Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford, is concerned about the tone of curbside voting signs outside some North Carolina early voting sites, calling them “intimidating and threatening” and “possibly a violation of state law.”

“Come on #SBOE [State Board of Elections], stop suppressing the vote. You can do better,” Harrison wrote in a X post Sunday.

The signs were given to county boards of elections by the state board to use outside polling places near the spaces reserved for curbside voting. 

The signs remind voters that curbside voting is a service for “voters who cannot come inside due to age or disability ONLY.” They also warn that curbside voters must attest that they meet the requirements for curbside voting “under penalty of law.”

Harrison, who saw the sign at a polling site in Carteret County, told NC Newsline that she is concerned the signs might deter people with mental health issues or other non-visible health issues from utilizing curbside voting. 

“I think that maybe the sign’s a little harsher and more intimidating than it needs to be to dissuade folks who abuse the curbside voting option,” Harrison said.

Harrison said she’s worked a lot of polls over “several decades and has never seen signs like this before.” She says she’s also never seen anyone abuse curbside voting.

“I don’t want to second-guess somebody’s need to use the curbside voting lane,” Harrison said. 

But Sam Hayes, the state board’s executive director, defended the signs in an emailed response to questions.

“We have noticed an uptick in curbside voting, and this sign serves as a reminder that it is not intended for those who are truly not in need of it,” Hayes said. “It is not, as the tweet implies, some type of tactic to intimidate or suppress voting.”

Hayes said the signs follow existing law, which already requires people using curbside voting to sign an attestation that they meet the requirements to do so. He said that, given limited resources in some counties, the “use of curbside voting for the able-bodied takes away resources for those [who] are truly in need.”

NC officials express confidence in election integrity as early voting begins

Charlie Collicut, director of elections in Guilford County, said voters sometimes misunderstand curbside voting, so the signs serve as a good reminder that the service is intended for elderly citizens and those who are disabled. 

Collicut said that it’s also important to post accompanying signage indicating that curbside voting is welcome and available at polling sites.

He said counties aren’t required to use the signs provided by the state.

State board officials confirmed that Durham, Nash and Polk counties declined the state signs but added the counties did not express concerns similar to Harrison’s when declining them.

It’s a felony under state law for “any person knowingly to swear falsely with respect to any matter pertaining to any primary or election.”