Why does NC have such strict ballot access laws?
Much of the problem we have with Ballot Access Laws goes back to the problem the nation had with voter intimidation and bribery, which caused people to either vote out of fear or not vote at all in the beginning of our nation. The problem is that voting was conducted by a voice vote intially which lead to the voter intimidation because there was no privacy in the vote. To solve the problem the paper ballot was introduced, yet, not the ballot we have today. This paper ballot was printed by the individual or political party and then distributed to the people, yet since the ballots were distinctly colored they caused the same problem as voice voting did. This gave rise to our current problem. In 1901, North Carolina followed suit with the rest of the nation in adopting the “Australian Ballot,” or state-regulated secret ballot. It was the bill which was enacted into law in 1901 that introduced the state-regulated ballot which also gave NC its first ballot access regulations. The single reg
