Swordsmyth
09-05-2018, 11:37 PM
Federal prosecutors have issued sweeping subpoenas demanding that millions of North Carolina voter records be turned over to immigration authorities by Sept. 25.
The unsealed grand jury subpoenas were sent to the state elections board and to 44 county elections boards in eastern North Carolina. Their existence became widely known after Marc E. Elias, a voting rights lawyer aligned with the Democratic Party, mentioned them on Twitter. (https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1037130730697109504)
Though the nature, scope and impetus of the federal investigation that generated the subpoenas remain shrouded in mystery, the move appeared to be part of an effort to find and crack down on any unauthorized voting by noncitizens.
The subpoenas were issued on Friday, a week after federal officials announced that 19 noncitizens in North Carolina had been charged (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/24/us/north-carolina-illegal-voters.html?module=inline) with casting illegal votes in the 2016 election. Those indictments arose from an investigation by a newly created federal task force focused on (https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/19-foreign-nationals-indicted-illegally-voting-2016-elections) document and benefits fraud in the Eastern District of North Carolina, where the 44 counties are.
Bryan D. Cox, an ICE spokesman, said on Wednesday that the investigation in North Carolina was “locally driven” by the office of the United States attorney for the Eastern District, Robert J. Higdon Jr.
The subpoena to the state elections board requests documents from 2010 through August 2018, including voter registration applications, early voting application forms, and absentee ballot request forms.
Joshua Lawson, general counsel for the North Carolina State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement, estimated that it covered more than 15 million state documents.
The subpoena to the county boards requests “any and all poll books, e-poll books, voting records, and/or voter authorization documents and executed official ballots” for a five-year period beginning Aug. 30, 2013.
Mr. Lawson said that this would cover in excess of five million county documents.
The subpoena request, he said, was “probably the largest on record in North Carolina within our agency.”
More at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/us/north-carolina-voting.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage
The unsealed grand jury subpoenas were sent to the state elections board and to 44 county elections boards in eastern North Carolina. Their existence became widely known after Marc E. Elias, a voting rights lawyer aligned with the Democratic Party, mentioned them on Twitter. (https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1037130730697109504)
Though the nature, scope and impetus of the federal investigation that generated the subpoenas remain shrouded in mystery, the move appeared to be part of an effort to find and crack down on any unauthorized voting by noncitizens.
The subpoenas were issued on Friday, a week after federal officials announced that 19 noncitizens in North Carolina had been charged (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/24/us/north-carolina-illegal-voters.html?module=inline) with casting illegal votes in the 2016 election. Those indictments arose from an investigation by a newly created federal task force focused on (https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/19-foreign-nationals-indicted-illegally-voting-2016-elections) document and benefits fraud in the Eastern District of North Carolina, where the 44 counties are.
Bryan D. Cox, an ICE spokesman, said on Wednesday that the investigation in North Carolina was “locally driven” by the office of the United States attorney for the Eastern District, Robert J. Higdon Jr.
The subpoena to the state elections board requests documents from 2010 through August 2018, including voter registration applications, early voting application forms, and absentee ballot request forms.
Joshua Lawson, general counsel for the North Carolina State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement, estimated that it covered more than 15 million state documents.
The subpoena to the county boards requests “any and all poll books, e-poll books, voting records, and/or voter authorization documents and executed official ballots” for a five-year period beginning Aug. 30, 2013.
Mr. Lawson said that this would cover in excess of five million county documents.
The subpoena request, he said, was “probably the largest on record in North Carolina within our agency.”
More at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/us/north-carolina-voting.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage