州长 Josh Stein 抨击邮寄选票拒收激增：吁选民别让他们拿走你的选票
北卡罗来纳州州长 Josh Stein 10月20日晚在社交媒体上抨击该州选举委员会的新邮寄投票规则，称新规则导致数千张缺席选票被拒，拒收率是2022年的两倍，「令人愤怒」。他呼吁选民制定投票计划，尽量亲自投票；如果邮寄投票，务必封好选票的内外两个信封，「别让他们拿走你的选票」。
争议源于州选举委员会9月以党派投票通过的新规则：选民必须把选票装入内信封并封口，再装入外信封；同时只有「近亲属」可以协助他人办理选票。据 Democracy Docket 获得的数据，新规则导致部分大县约2.5%的邮寄选票被拒；计入所有原因，一些民主党重镇的拒收率高达7%至8%。投票权组织已起诉要求推翻新规则，但联邦法官10月19日裁定维持该规则至11月大选。北卡本次中期选举的缺席选票申请已于10月20日截止，现场提前投票从10月15日开始持续至10月31日。据州选举委员会数据统计，提前投票头三天全州已接受超过50万张选票（截至10月17日为501,318张），比2022年同期增加38.2%。
Gov. Josh Stein Slams Surge in Rejected Mail Ballots: Urges Voters, 'Don't Let Them Take Your Vote'
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein took to social media on the evening of Oct. 20 to attack the State Board of Elections' new mail voting rules, saying they have caused thousands of absentee ballots to be rejected — a rejection rate twice that of 2022 — and calling it outrageous. He urged voters to make a plan and vote in person if possible, and if voting by mail, to seal both the inner and outer envelopes: 'Don't let them take your vote.'
The dispute stems from rules the board adopted in September on a partisan vote: voters must seal their ballot in an inner envelope before placing it in the outer envelope, and only a 'near relative' may assist another person with a ballot. Data obtained by Democracy Docket shows the new rules have led to about 2.5 percent of mail ballots being rejected in some large counties, and, counting all causes, rejection rates of 7 to 8 percent in some Democratic strongholds. Voting-rights groups sued to overturn the rules, but a federal judge ruled on Oct. 19 to keep them in place through the November election. Absentee ballot requests for the midterm closed Oct. 20, and in-person early voting runs from Oct. 15 to Oct. 31. According to State Board of Elections data, more than 500,000 ballots were accepted in the first three days of early voting — 501,318 through Oct. 17 — up 38.2 percent from the same point in 2022.
Related: Federal Judge Keeps North Carolina Mail Voting Restrictions in Place for November Election
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图片来源：Wikimedia Commons 授权图（北卡罗来纳州立法大楼，Raleigh；CC BY-SA 3.0）
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