By Ben Rappaport and Paul Woolverton This story was co-published by The Assembly, CityView and the Border Belt Independent. Two Robeson County commissioners are accused of bribing at least 21 voters in the March primary, according to a court petition filed Thursday. Commissioner Wixie Stephens allegedly paid at least nine residents up to $60 to vote for incumbent Judy Sampson in the March 5 Democratic … Read moreRead more

By Ben Rappaport benrappaport@borderbelt.org  An election dispute following the March primary highlights ongoing criticism of the electoral process in Bladen County, which made national headlines six years ago amid ballot-harvesting accusations.       The Rev. Keith Graham lost the Democratic primary for the Bladen County Board of Commissioners’ District 1 seat by 31 votes on March 5. He filed an election protest, calling for a new election … Read moreRead more

By Ben Rappaport benrappaport@borderbelt.org  The Columbus County Board of Elections likely violated state law by revising its plan for statewide runoff elections without properly notifying the public.  Here’s what to know about the board’s actions, along with some context about the board’s history and the upcoming runoffs.  Why are there runoff elections? In North Carolina, a second-place candidate can call for a runoff election if … Read moreRead more

By Ben Rappaport benrappaport@borderbelt.org Before heading to the polls, Theresa Guyton gets on a group call with every member of her family. They sort through each office on the ballot — from president, to state auditor and everything in between. Each person is assigned a different race to research prior to Election Day, then they confer and decide who earns their vote.  This primary was … Read moreRead more

By Ben Rappaport  benrappaport@borderbelt.org   While Super Tuesday didn’t yield many surprises in the high-profile races for North Carolina, voters in the rural southeastern region of the state distinguished themselves in important ways. Most notably, they opted for “anti-establishment” candidates in both parties, many of whom campaigned in the region showing a need for increased engagement of rural voters in the lead-up to the election in … Read moreRead more