RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Believing they have enough signatures to be on the ballot for US Senate, the North Carolina Green Party thought it could now focus on campaigning for the fall election.
About a week ago, however, petition signers started getting texts and phone calls asking if they actually signed the petition and whether the person would agree to have their name removed.
“Some of the folks had said they were with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, some would not indicate that they were with anyone,” said NC Green Party Co-Chair Tony Ndege.
Presumptive Green Party nominee Matthew Hoh said “they are basically harassing and shaming. I’ll say that we have had people tell us that they have been called three, four, five times a day by the DSCC. That the text messages themselves are vote shaming.”
Tony Ndege said he received a call from someone claiming to be with the Green Party.
“This person proceeded to tell me and read the script about how if Greens are on the ballot, that’s the wording they’ve been using over and over, that we’ll be putting the democrats at a huge disadvantage,” he said.
Ndege provided CBS 17 with the portion of the call he was able to record:
Ndege: You’re calling to confirm whether or not I signed a petition for umm that, so umm. May I ask who you’re calling with? What organization? Is this, is this the green party?
Caller: Yes
Ndege: You’re with the Green Party?
Caller: Yes and we have you listed as wanting to get the candidates on the North Carolina ballot {inaudible}.
Ndege: So you’re calling as a representative of the Green Party?
Caller: As a volunteer, yes.
Ndege: Okay. Umm yeah, I did sign it.
Caller: Okay. Would you say you strongly support it or do you somewhat support it?
Ndege: I mean, I don’t think I’d sign something unless I strongly support it.
Caller: Okay. Well, thank you for confirming. Annual participation in elections is important. If the Green Party is on the ballot, it’ll take votes away from Democrats, giving Republicans a huge advantage. It will help them win North Carolina in 2022 and 2024. There’s far too much at stake to let this happen. Are you interested in asking to have your name removed from this petition or leave it as is?
Ndege: I’m confused, so if you’re with the Green Party, why are you asking to remove it. I’m sorry.
Caller: Yes, I totally under…
At that point the caller disconnected the call.
The DSCC told CBS 17 they are reaching out to petition signers to validate their signature. This comes after the Michigan Elections Bureau removed 5 of 10 gubernatorial candidates after they found invalid petition signatures in that state.
First Choice Contracting is one of the companies facing questions in Michigan. The same contractor was also hired by the North Carolina Green Party to help gather signatures. However, the NC Green Party said after the company collected fewer than 100 signatures the Green Party terminated the contract and received a refund.
The Green Party told CBS 17 it feels confident in the validity of the signatures it provided the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
The Green Party is required to gather enough signatures to appear on the fall ballot because it did not reach the necessary threshold of votes in the last statewide election.
As for the texts and phone calls people are receiving, DSCC spokesperson Amanda Sherman said they are continuing to reach out to people to validate their signatures on the ballot.
Sherman said, “individuals working for them do not identify themselves as affiliated with the Green Party in any way and all of their calls include a disclaimer at the end that says the call was paid for by the DSCC.”
Regardless of who it is, Ndege worries about the outcome.
“This actually makes the entire petition process very problematic, not just for Greens but also for independents who may want to get on the ballot, for other parties who want to get on the ballot. And also there’s a lot of municipalities where people actually collect petitions. So this is going to have a lasting damaging effect on the petition process,” he said.
“They’re doing all kinds of slimy things to get people to retract their signature off the petition. But they’re lying about who they are. They’re falsely and fraudulently presenting themselves as the Green Party and they are not,” said Hoh.
