How “Get Out the Vote” Really Works

The State Board of Elections is investigating complaints regarding the Bladen County Elections. The complaints range from people trying to vote multiple times, to absentee ballots being filled out in people’s names who haven’t voted for years. Some candidates running for office in Bladen County think folks are getting a bit too heavy handed in their efforts to manipulate the elections.

“My campaign has been approached by a number of different individuals, who have basically told me that for a certain amount of money, they are prepared to guarantee a certain number of votes in Bladen County. That is not something that i’m prepared to do,” said Jon David, the Republican candidate for District Attorney in Bladen, Brunswick and Columbus counties.

While David refuses to participate in Get Out the Vote activities, many other candidates are paying people to round up votes for them. That often includes putting up signs, and driving voters to the polls. The Bladen County Board of Elections Chairman, Ray Britt, says that on election day, people working for the campaigns will literally go into the voting booths with people coming out to vote. “You’ll see some of these people, in and out, in and out, in and out all day, well that’s usually one of the workers, that’s actually working for the get out the vote group, and they’re going in to assist that person to vote,” Britt said.

Britt says he can’t say for sure whether those workers are influencing how the ballots are filled out, but it’s not a stretch to think they might be. The practice is discouraging to candidates who refuse to participate in the get out the vote process, like county commission candidate John Britt (no relation to Ray).

“People have become frustrated because they feel like they’re being manipulated,” John Britt explained to NewsChannel 3. “I feel like people who support you, they [should] support you because they like your standards, what you stand for.”

Despite the naysayers, plenty of high profile candidates use get out the vote techniques, and say it’s a great way to get people to the poles. “I don’t think there’s a manipulation factor,” said Butch Pope, the Democratic candidate for District Attorney. “Most people seem very appreciative of not only a ride to the polls – but if they ask for assistance or who do I vote for if they don’t know the candidates, it’s been my observation that people are very appreciative of that.”

We asked Pope if he thought people should be voting if they don’t know who the candidates are. He answered, “Well they do. People don’t know state wide judges a lot of times, and I have people ask me every year, who should I vote for for these judges because I don’t know them – across the state. So it’s not unusual for someone to ask for a suggestion, and it’s not unusual for someone to vote for someone they don’t know”

Rather than relying on suggestions from a Get out the Vote worker or committee, Ray Britt is holding out hope for the day when more voters do their own research, and vote for the person that they decide is best. “I don’t need anybody dictating to me who I am going to vote for,” he said. “The bottom line at the end of the day, who is the best person for Bladen County, and North Carolina and this country, and I think when we all wake up in the morning and we realize that, and we vote for what is right and best and all of that, you’ll see this country turn around.”

While opponents do have ethical concerns about Get Out the Vote tactics, the practice is legal in North Carolina. State Board of Elections investigators tell us they’ve made quite a bit of progress in their ongoing investigation surrounding the Bladen County elections. They hope to forward their findings to the District Attorney and/or the SBI in the not too distant future.