May 19, 2026
State Board of Elections Submits More Proposed Rules for Public Comment
Photo Identification Rules
AND… Trump Receives $1.8 Billion Slush Fund
Hello Indivisible Citizens of Catawba Valley,
It’s another Take Action Tuesday from the ICCV Legislative Committee. This week we are once again focused on protecting the right of North Carolinians to vote. We are also talking about the Justice Department’s settlement in Trump v. Internal Revenue Service. Part 1 is provided in our usual format. For the sake of space, Part 2 is a brief overview, followed by a link to a Substack with well-written scripts for calling Congress.
Part 1: Election Rules
In February, we presented a set of proposed rules from the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) addressing non-citizen voting. Despite over 15,000 public comments, 98% of which OPPOSED the rules, the NCSBE voted along party lines to approve the rules. They are set to go before the Rules Review Commission (RRC) on May 28. Advocacy groups are still working to convince the RRC not to approve the rules, in which case they would go the legislature. We are continuing to follow that topic closely.
Now the NCSBE has released 4 new sets of rules for public comment. The comment period began on May 15 and runs through July 14. Since this is a lot of rules to discuss, we will devote several Take Action Tuesdayissues to discussion of the proposed rules and potential effects if adopted. The 4 sets of rules include Photo Identification, Absentee Ballots, Conduct of Recounts, and Voting Site Rules. We will focus our WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT section this week on the first set of rules, Photo Identification. Of course, feel free to study and comment on any of the proposed rules that you wish. We will do a deeper dive into the other 3 sets of rules in the coming weeks.
WHAT TO DO
The NCSBE is accepting written public comments now through July 14, 2026. There will also be public hearings on each set of rules, held at different times and on different dates. We recommend you go to the NCSBE website at https://www.ncsbe.gov/news/press-releases/2026/05/14/state-board-welcomes-public-comments-four-sets-proposed-election-rules-0 to review the proposed rules. There is a lot of legalese there, so we will attempt to explain some of the issues below in WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT.
Here are links to some excellent sample comments on the proposed Voter ID Exception rules https://democracync.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/NCSBE-Sample-Comment-_-Proposed-Rules-on-Absentee-Ballots-1.pdf
https://www.commoncause.org/north-carolina/articles/sboe-rules/
HOW TO DO IT
Submit a WRITTEN comment to the NCSBE objecting to the proposed rules before July 14 by any of the following mechanisms:
● Online via the Public Portal: https://www.ncsbe.gov/public-comment-portal-2026-rulemaking-photo-id?emci=a8045d14-ce4f-f111-8ef2-000d3a14b640&emdi=55c94303-7350-f111-8ef2-000d3a14b640&ceid=119219
● Email: rulemaking.sboe@ncsbe.gov (Note: Commenter should identify the specific rule being commented on.)
● Mail: Attn: Rulemaking Coordinator, P.O. Box 27255, Raleigh, NC 27611-7255 (Note: Commenter should identify the specific rule being commented on.)
Please feel free to share this information with your family and friends.
You can also call your representatives about the decimation of voting rights in this country. More information and scripts at https://5calls.org/issue/voting-rights-gerrymandering-supreme-court/
- Senator Thom Tillis: (202) 224-6342
- Senator Ted Budd: (202) 224-3154
- Representative Pat Harrigan: (202) 225-2576
- Representative Virginia Foxx: (202) 225-2071
To find and contact your state legislators, go to
https://www.ncleg.gov/FindYourLegislators
Enter your home address to link to contacts for your NC Senator and Representative.
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT
The current process for individuals who present to vote without “acceptable photo identification” is to allow a provisional ballot to be cast and the individual can then provide photo ID at the County BOE office OR submit an affidavit of exception explaining why they do not possess an acceptable form of ID. A similar process exists for absentee-by-mail ballots.
The proposed rules would shorten the time frame in which an acceptable photo ID may be submitted for the vote to be counted. The most significant change would allow county BOEs to determine by a simple majority that an exception form submitted with a provisional ballot has been falsified. The current rules requiring a unanimous vote of the local board are more robust and provide better protection for the voters for whom this exception was developed - people who lost their ID in a natural disaster, are unable to access a DMV office, or have disabilities limiting their ability to obtain an ID. With all 100 county BOE under Republican control, this presents a serious concern for partisan actions affecting individual voters.
It is strongly suggested that you put comments into your own words as much as possible, to ensure that each comment is counted individually.
North Carolina has a long history of voter suppression and blocking access to voting. These new rules are merely a continuation of that effort.
https://www.lawyerscommittee.org/north-carolina-profile/
https://democracync.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/A-Brief-History-of-Voter-Suppression-in-NC-2.pdf
One additional note: The in-person public hearing on this set of rules will be held on June 9, at 2:00 PM in the Board Room at the State Board of Elections, Dobbs Building, 430 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27603.
Part 2: The “Anti-Weaponization Fund”
The president has publicly described the unusual situation of being able to sue “himself” and potentially gain $10 Billion. Here’s the latest. You’ll want to register your complaint to your elected representatives.
- In 2019, an IRS contractor leaked some of Trump’s tax records, along with those of many others. This person is now serving a 5-year prison sentence.
- Trump sued the IRS for $10 billion.
- The Justice department has defended the IRS in other suits related to this leak on the grounds that the IRS couldn’t be held liable for the actions of a contractor.
- The Department of Justice is presently headed by Todd Blanche, formerly the President’s personal attorney. The conflict of interest is clear.
- The court instructed attorneys to submit briefs by tomorrow, Wednesday, to assess the legitimacy of the suit.
- Now, a settlement has been reached, which short-circuits judicial review.
- The terms of the settlement include:
o Trump, family members and his businesses could be immune from future IRS audits
o $1.776 (note the symbolism) billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” will be established, using taxpayer dollars. Entities and individuals related to the President, the January 6 insurrectionists, and others involved in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2024 election stand to benefit.
- Please contact your congressional representatives and express your outrage over this blatant corruption and demand a prompt and thorough investigation of the way DOJ officials have defended this suit. Taxpayer funds should not be awarded to pardoned January 6 defendants. See WHAT TO DO and HOW TO DO IT below.
https://abcnews.com/US/trump-poised-drop-irs-suit-launch-17b-weaponization/story?id=132962661
The Substack linked here does a great job of telling us WHAT TO DO and HOW TO DO IT, including background information and scripts for reaching out to Congress. https://susanrogan.substack.com/p/block-trumps-taxpayer-funded-slush?r=15kq21&triedRedirect=true
Thank you for everything you do to protect our democracy!
ICCV Legislative Committee
“With Liberty and Justice for ALL”