Cross posted to the MRC's NewsBusters blog
When MSNBC correspondent Morgan Radford filed a nearly three-minute report informing viewers that black voters in North Carolina are having their mail-in ballots rejected at four times the rate of white voters, the fact that she did not divulge the party affiliations of any officials she spoke of was a dead giveaway that she couldn't find any Republicans to scapegoat since the relevant departments are run by Democrats.
Even so, the segment sill ended up hinting that there might yet be deliberate activities to suppress black voters and benefit President Donald Trump's reelection campaign.
On Tuesday afternoon, MSNBC host Ayman Mohyeldin set up the report: "Now, today election officials across North Carolina began counting mail-in ballots amid reports of a disturbing trend, though -- that black voters and their ballots are being rejected at nearly four times the rate of white voters in this state."
After bringing aboard correspondent Morgan Radford, Mohyeldin began by posing: "Morgan, this is a very important story -- what more do we know about this disparity between the rejection rates of ballots from black and white voters? And do we know why this is happening?"
Radford recalled that she has spoken to many officials about the issue as she began:
We have spoken to state election board officials, county election board officials, those people who have had their ballots rejected, nonpartisan experts, and the biggest thing we seem to hear most commonly is that this could be about first-time mail-in voters perhaps making mistakes in their ballots.
After relating that the Union County elections board had explained that many of the ballots they have rejected lack the necessary signatures, she then added:
And we spoke to nonpartisan experts -- they said, "Well, historically, in North Carolina, absentee ballot voting is more common among white voters, and black voters here tend to vote early, they tend to vote in person." But, Ayman, no one can seem to explain why that discrepancy is so high -- why four times the number of black voters are having their ballots returned in comparison to white voters.
Radford was then seen speaking in pre-recorded clips with Christopher Gibson, an African American voter who tried to vote by mail in Mecklenburg County, but his vote was rejected. The two speculated about whether black voters were being "targeted" by someone:
CHRISTOPHER GIBSON, NORTH CAROLINA VOTER: Voting is very important. I grew up in the Jim Crow era, and so I look at the folks that fought for me to vote. (editing jump) People lost their lives for me to vote, and I don't want to disappoint them.
RADFORD: This area -- I mean, here in North Carolina -- we're here in Mecklenburg County -- do you think that black voters are being targeted?
GIBSON: Sure they are. I mean, you know, it don't take no Einstein to figure that out.
Back live again, she then added:
Mr. Gibson was talking about the history of this state, North Carolina, which has had a history of practices that many black American voters feel were problematic historically. And so, to see this discrepancy, it is something that gives them cause for suspicion and something that gives them cause for concern.
Still without making any mention of the party affiliations of any relevant officeholders, Radford recounted that she had also spoken with the state board of elections:
Now, of course, when we reached out to the state board of elections, they declined to give us an interview, but they were startled by these claims that Mr. Gibson made -- the idea that someone could feel like that there were racist practices at play, but they did acknowledge that this discrepancy did exist and said that they would try to do more in the future to make sure that things like this -- the instructions and the understanding of how this process works is more clear in the future.
The MSNBC journalist did not fill viewers in on the fact that the state's governor -- currently Democrat Roy Cooper -- has substantial control over the makeup not only of the state board of elections, but also the elections boards of individual counties. Until the two Republican board members recently resigned in protest, the state board of elections had a 3-2 Democratic majority with members chosen by the governor (although both parties are allowed to submit a list of possible appointees).
Additionally, the state elections board gets to appoint four of each county's local elections board members while the governor gets to appoint the chair.
Gibson's home county -- Mecklenburg -- has its board of elections controlled by a Democratic majority while the heavily Democratic county also notably has an all-Democratic board of commissioners. The more Republican Union County nevertheless has an elections chair who is a Democrat, although the elections board has a 3-2 Republican majority.
After failing to find a convincing angle to blame Republicans for the disproportionate rejection of black voters' mail-in ballots, the segment still worked in some shots at the possibility that Donald Trump supporters would interfere with voting by African Americans. The Washington Post's Eugene Scott intoned:
And when last we've spoken with voters -- black voters, in particular -- in North Carolina about registering for this election, there has been genuine concern that those in charge of some of the voting processes in the state, were not going to let do things fairly and perhaps were somehow going to intervene as it became more clear that North Carolina was a swing state that could play a big part in the election.
Again, it was not mentioned that "those in charge" of the "voting processes" in North Carolina are Democrats.
By contrast, two years ago, MSNBC anchors were quick to blame then-Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp for complaints about the handling of voter registrations that were eventually discredited.
This deceptive episode of MSNBC Live was sponsored by Liberty Mutual. Their contact information is linked.
Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Tuesday, September 29, MSNBC Live:
3:51 p.m. Eastern
AYMAN MOHYELDIN: Now, today election officials across North Carolina began counting mail-in ballots amid reports of a disturbing trend, though -- that black voters and their ballots are being rejected at nearly four times the rate of white voters in this state. ... Morgan, this is a very important story -- what more do we know about this disparity between the rejection rates of ballots from black and white voters? And do we know why this is happening?
MORGAN RADFORD: Ayman, that's the question of the hour of the day. We have spoken to state election board officials, county election board officials, those people who have had their ballots rejected, nonpartisan experts, and the biggest thing we seem to hear most commonly is that this could be about first-time mail-in voters perhaps making mistakes in their ballots. So, for example, this is a mail-in ballot here in North Carolina. When we spoke to the county board right here in Union County, when they said, "Look, sometimes we're not getting the voter signatures -- other times, we're not getting the signature of a witness which is something that's required in North Carolina."
And we spoke to nonpartisan experts -- they said, "Well, historically, in North Carolina, absentee ballot voting is more common among white voters, and black voters here tend to vote early, they tend to vote in person." But, Ayman, no one can seem to explain why that discrepancy is so high -- why four times the number of black voters are having their ballots returned in comparison to white voters. We spoke to a 70-year-old man who had chosen to vote by mail because he says he has diabetes, which is a preexisting condition that could create complications with COVID. This is what he said after finding out that his ballot was rejected.
CHRISTOPHER GIBSON, NORTH CAROLINA VOTER: Voting is very important. I grew up in the Jim Crow era, and so I look at the folks that fought for me to vote. (editing jump) People lost their lives for me to vote, and I don't want to disappoint them.
RADFORD: This area -- I mean, here in North Carolina -- we're here in Mecklenburg County -- do you think that black voters are being targeted?
GIBSON: Sure they are. I mean, you know, it don't take no Einstein to figure that out.
RADFORD: So. Ayman, Mr. Gibson was talking about the history of this state, North Carolina, which has had a history of practices that many black American voters feel were problematic historically. And so, to see this discrepancy, it is something that gives them cause for suspicion and something that gives them cause for concern. Now, of course, when we reached out to the state board of elections, they declined to give us an interview, but they were startled by these claims that Mr. Gibson made -- the idea that someone could feel like that there were racist practices at play, but they did acknowledge that this discrepancy did exist and said that they would try to do more in the future to make sure that things like this -- the instructions and the understanding of how this process works is more clear in the future.
(...)
3:54 p.m.
EUGENE SCOTT, WASHINGTON POST POLITICAL REPORTER: And when last we've spoken with voters -- black voters, in particular -- in North Carolina about registering for this election, there has been genuine concern that those in charge of some of the voting processes in the state, were not going to let do things fairly and perhaps were somehow going to intervene as it became more clear that North Carolina was a swing state that could play a big part in the election.
MOHYELDIN: Eugene, I got to ask you about what's happening in this election cycle that has been raised based on past practices. There's a report from the UK's Channel 4 that found that, back in 2016, 2,4 million black Americans were categorized by Trump's campaign as deterrents, meaning they were voters that the campaign wanted them to stay at home on Election Day. Do you think the Trump campaign is deploying the same kind of strategy this time around?
SCOTT: Well, the campaign has said they are not, but we heard Donald Trump say he won in part because black voters stayed home. And we also know from our intelligence agencies that Russia targeted black voters with disinformation so that they would not come out and vote in some of these states and urban areas, particularly that were so definitive, like Milwaukee and Wisconsin and Detroit and Michigan and Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. And so there is reason to believe among black voters that the President could benefit from their not participating in the process because we know that when black voters vote, they disproportionately vote for Democratic party candidates, and so does Donald Trump.