Members of Congress, voting rights advocates and a state Supreme Court justice warned of potential threats to North Carolina’s election security during a “shadow hearing” in Raleigh on Wednesday.

Convened by Democratic U.S. Reps. Deborah Ross and Valerie Foushee — Triangle lawmakers who are in the minority in the Republican-controlled House — the hearing focused on President Donald Trump’s repeated attempts to sow doubt about the upcoming midterm elections, his efforts to restrict mail-in voting, and the potential for federal immigration agents to be deployed to the polls.

“Amongst all of the chaos that has been manufactured around election security, I am more confident than ever that the American people see these attempts for what they are: an attempt to hold on to power in the wake of a historically unpopular president and agenda,” Foushee, who represents Durham, said.

Despite the warnings, Wednesday’s speakers sought to reassure voters that their ballots would be counted, and they should turn out to vote as usual.

“Your vote is safe. Your vote will be counted, and you, the residents of North Carolina, have more power over this election than anyone in Washington,” Virginia Solomón, president of the voting rights group Common Cause, said.

Several of the speakers referred to North Carolina as a “laboratory” in which lawmakers have experimented with new ways to restrict voting rights.

One such fight that drew national attention was Republicans’ attempt to overturn Democrat Allison Riggs’ 734-vote victory in the 2024 state Supreme Court election.

Riggs herself spoke at Wednesday’s hearing, recounting the unprecedented six-month legal battle in which her opponent, state Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin, sought to throw out over 60,000 ballots.

While Griffin’s efforts ultimately failed after a Trump-appointed federal judge ruled against him, Riggs noted that North Carolina’s Republican-led courts had first ruled partially in Griffin’s favor.

“Our state appellate courts, including the court on which I sit, were willing to indulge these attacks on democracy, giving credence to an argument that the rules of an election can be changed after the election to alter its outcome,” she said. “... This experience should be taken as a very serious threat to the rule of law.”

Speakers also criticized the new Republican leadership over the state’s election administration, which took office last year.

For over a century, the power to appoint members of state and local election boards rested with the governor. But after Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s 2024 victory, the Republican-led legislature tucked a provision into a disaster relief bill that stripped the governor of this longstanding power and transferred it instead to the state auditor, a Republican.

Upon taking control over appointments, Auditor Dave Boliek installed Republican majorities at the State Board of Elections and all 100 county election boards. Boliek also hired Dallas Woodhouse, former director of the state Republican Party, to be his “elections liaison” with the boards.

Despite state law affirming the independence of election boards, text messages obtained through public records requests showed Woodhouse urging local officials to cut Sunday voting and oppose some on-campus polling sites. Following a flurry of news stories about his influence on voting plans, Woodhouse resigned from the auditor’s office.

Former state lawmaker Terence Everitt, a Democrat who now leads the North Carolina Voter Protection Alliance, suggested at Wednesday’s hearing that Congress should bring in Boliek and Woodhouse to testify about their involvement in election planning.

“You can ask who directed these conversations and what was said outside of public meetings, and whether (other) counties received similar pressure,” he said. “North Carolinians have been piecing this together one public record request at a time. Congress has the power to see the whole picture.”

U.S. Rep. Joe Morelle, of New York, chaired Wednesday’s hearing due to his role as the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee. Asked by The News & Observer if he’d consider Everitt’s suggestion if Democrats retook control of the House, he demurred.

“Maybe we’ll bring them in, but I’m more likely to bring in local election administrators, whether Democrats or Republicans, who care deeply about making sure that the will of the American people is carried out in elections,” he said.

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