Old North News

The Voter Reference Foundation has launched a portal that freely allows the public to monitor sent and returned absentee ballots with North Carolina being one of the first three states to be added to the new portal.

The new system, which includes VRF collecting publicly available information and publishing it in an easy-to-digest format, is expected to be operational in time for this year’s primary and general elections, according to an April 20 news release. Data entered into the portal is slated to be updated on a daily basis and those who access the website can search by name or address for registered voters.

"Our mission is to make voter information more accessible to the public,” Voter Reference Foundation Executive Director Gina Swoboda said in the release. “It is the public that bears the cost to collect and maintain this data across the country. We are making elections more transparent, piece-by-piece."

Georgia and Wisconsin stand as the other two states currently joining North Carolina in the portal, with Michigan and Nevada set to join over the short term, according to the release. As part of its rollout, VRF officials pointed to inconsistencies between the number of voters listed as having cast ballots in 2020 and the number of votes per the state's official canvass.

North Carolina was also added to VRF's voter transparency website, VoteRef.com, in late 2021. Currently, the database contains the voter rolls of 21 states and Washington, DC.