According to ABC News, sixteen incidents of alleged voter intimidation, harassment, and interference of voters and election officials have been reported in North Carolina since the beginning of early in-person voting.
The reports, which have occurred in multiple counties, are currently under review by the State Board of Elections (NCSBE) investigative unit. Karen Brinson Bell, the board's executive director, said during a news conference that certain situations could be escalated to the Department of Justice.
“There could be situations where depending on the circumstance, it could be a voter intimidation or something that interferes with the voter’s ability to cast their ballot; those could be raised to [the Department of Justice] and civil rights violations,” Brinson Bell reportedly said.
“We are not the prosecutors. We will turn that over to DOJ, or potentially it could be a situation that would be turned over to a district attorney,” she added, “we want people to be able to cast their ballot without fear of intimidation or interference.”
ABC noted that some incidents included intimidation, harassment, alleged interference, and individuals “photographing or recording one-stop workers in their vehicles and poll observers getting too close to voters.”
Reportedly, North Carolina isn’t the only state with reports of possible voter intimidation. In Arizona, 18 complaints of harassment and intimidation have been reported on the secretary of state’s website and have been elevated to law enforcement. ABC reported that “all but one” of the incidents were related to alleged voter intimidation at ballot drop box sites. One was related to the alleged harassment of election officials.