At Verbo, we understand that even the best of plans sometimes need a little support.
So we plan for the plot twists. Every booking is automatically backed by our Verbo Care Guarantee, giving you confidence from the very start. Whenever you need help, it's ready before your stay, through the moments in between, and after your trip. Because a great trip starts with peace of mind, and maybe a good playlist. But we've got the peace of mind part covered.
It's 5:06, and welcome into a Thursday edition of the Carolina Journal News Hour on Charlotte's FM News Talk 107.9 FM. WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good morning to you.
Well, voters across the Tar Heel State will begin the process today of casting their ballots for the 2026 midterm election as the early voting period officially kicks off this morning across the vast majority of North. Carolina and runs all the way through October the thirty-first, where all polls will be closed at three p.m. According to a press release from the North Carolina State Board of Elections, there will be 370 early voting sites across the state in 2024. 74 percent of voters cast early ballots in the general election, while in the last midterm, which may be a better analogy and analog for a voter turnout and things of that nature, we saw about 53 percent in 2022. Sam Hayes, the executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, said, "Quote: We look forward to a smooth and successful early voting period.
I would like to thank our county election administrators and the thousands of poll workers who will ensure that voters can cast their ballots securely and efficiently." Eligible voters will be able to cast a ballot at any early voting site in their county. That is an important thing to note during this early voting period. All of that information has been published by your local board of election, regardless of where you live in North Carolina. All of the locations there's a minimum of at least one per county, and the hours of operation and everything you need to know about a voting in your county. According to.
Other information that we are following, we are keeping a very close eye on the voter turnout levels. That is something that we will be looking at nearly a day in and day out here on the Carolina Journal News Hour to keep track of what that voter turnout is looking like. How does it compare to 2024, 2022?
Some of our last high level, high profile elections here across the state of North Carolina. Make a plan to get out. And vote. We will be chatting with Dr. Andy Jackson from the John Locke Foundation.
We'll walk through all the details as it relates to a voter ID, what is called single shot registration, where if you are not registered to vote, you can register and vote during this early voting period as well. He'll join us coming up a little bit later on this morning, right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour.
Well, speaking of elections, President Donald Trump is. Set to return to North Carolina for a campaign rally coming up next week, October the twentieth. He will be in Greenville, Eastern North Carolina, bringing the Republican campaign push back to the eastern part of the state just two weeks before Election Day. The event hosted by the Trump Forty Seven Committee is scheduled to begin around five thirty p.m. with the president delivering remarks around seven.
The location of that event has Not yet been released.
However, the event does require an RSVP through the official registration page, which we've got a link to over on our website, carolinajournal.com. The interesting note: President Trump is expected to campaign for Republican Senate nominee Michael Wattley, as well as Lori Buckout, the Republican challenging Democrat Representative Don Davis in North Carolina's first congressional district. Greenville itself is in the neighboring third congressional district, where Republican Greg Murphy faces Democrat Raymond Smith. The visit will take place during the first full week of in-person early voting across North Carolina. As I just mentioned, that runs October the fifteenth today through October the thirty-first, with the election day being November the third.
The Greenville rally follows appearances by both Trump and JD Vance in North Carolina just last month, as Republicans work to build support for Michael Waltz's campaign. Against former Democrat Governor Roy Cooper, Trump campaigned with Watley at the Gastonium Municipal Airport back on September the sixteenth, promoting his administration's record and criticizing the former governor's handling of crime and Hurricane Helene recovery. During that rally, Trump accused Cooper of failing to address violent crime during his eight years as governor, saying, "quote With your vote in this election, we're going to defeat the." Murderer and criminal protector. He is a murderer protector. The man who made North Carolina the talk of our country.
The whole country was talking about it for its violent crime. The radical left Democrat Roy Cooper on November the third. President Trump also brought Lori Buck out on stage, giving the Republican congressional candidate an opportunity to make her case against Democrat Don Davis in for in their November rematch, which we're watching here across North Carolina. Buckout said, "I'm running because I'm sick of career politicians, and I'm a warrior. I would like to say that when I was fighting in Iraq, Don Davis was just beginning his 25 year stint as a politician." Professional.
That's all he is. He's an empty suit. He's done nothing for this district. Vice President JD Vance followed the September the sixteenth event with one of his own on September the twenty first in Greensboro. That was at the Curry Convention Center.
There, he promoted Watley's candidacy while criticizing Cooper's veto of legislation involving elections, parental rights, and school athletics. With Vance also recognizing Republican congressional candidates that were in attendance, including Lori Buckow. During his remarks, Vance portrayed Cooper as beholden to progressive activists through his throughout his tenure in the governor's mansion, saying in part, "For eight years, Governor Roy Cooper had left-wing activists in his ear, screaming at him to do their bidding, and each time they shrieked, each time they threatened, each time they demanded that Roy Cooper bend the knee, he obeyed them." Both Trump and Vance have also visited eastern North Carolina during the current election cycle. President Donald Trump was in was at the Rocky Mount Event Center back on December the nineteenth of twenty twenty five, where he was where Watley introduced him. Vance visited Rocky Mount on March the thirteenth, promoting the administration's economic agenda and drawing attention to the Davis Buckout contest.
The rematch between Democrat U.S. Representative Don Davis and Republican Lori Buckout in North Carolina's first congressional district has drawn national attention as Republicans target the district as a key pickup opportunity in the battle for control of the United States House. The National Republican Congressional Committee has identified Buckout as a primary as a priority candidate. Excuse me, adding her to its program support. Supporting Republican candidates in what are called competitive districts nationwide.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson also campaigned with Buckout back and back in August. The national attention follows a narrow 2024 contest in which Davis defeated Buckout with 49.5 percent of the vote, compared to Buckout's 47.8 percent, which rolled out to be a margin of just over 6,000 votes when all was said and done. This year's election will be held under different boundaries as state lawmakers redrew the first and third congressional districts back in 2025. Shifting the partisan makeup towards Republicans in the first by removing some Republican-leaning areas from North Carolina's third congressional district.
Despite the changes, the race remains highly competitive. The Cook Political Report moved North Carolina's first congressional district from lean Republican to toss-up in its October the ninth ratings update. As the Lori Buckout goes against the current sitting congressman from the first congressional district, in Don Davis, we'll be keeping a very close eye on that as well as President Donald Trump stumping for Michael Wattley in what has been a very Very interesting. Couple of weeks on his side, as we've learned in the last few weeks, the Senate Leadership Fund announcing that they are pulling tens, hundreds of millions of dollars from that. This few weeks, the Senate Leadership Fund announcing that they are pulling tens, hundreds of millions of dollars from that.
This U.S. Senate race here in North Carolina. Learning over the last couple of weeks as well that the Watley campaign had at least temporary. Pulled all of its television advertising to retool its message in the lead up to Election Day, as political polling still shows former Democrat Governor Roy Cooper as a very heavy favorite in the contest. At this point in time, the spread on polling remains from about seven to fourteen percent, with the RealClear Politics average landing that race at the at nine percentage points as of right now, which would be a major Electoral win, if that were to verify, the president did promise when he was in Gastonia last month that he would be back to North Carolina, continuing the stump for Republicans across the state.
He is following through with that, and an event coming up next Tuesday, October the 20th, in Greenville, North Carolina. Eastern North Carolina will be, of course, keeping a close eye on that as it happens during our early voting period, and we'll bring you the latest coverage. Of the president's address, right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour, and as always, over on our website, carolinajournal.com. It's five twenty-one. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, one hundred seven point nine FM, WBT.
We've got another update this morning on a battle between the state health plan, the North Carolina State Health Plan, and Atrium, as that ongoing dispute continues. It intensified on Wednesday with the state health plan moving most of Atrium's providers from the non-preferred tier to the out-of-network tier for. It's seven hundred and fifty thousand members under the state health plan effective January the first. The move comes after a state business court judge denied the state health plan's request for a temporary injunction in a lawsuit it filed against Atrium last week. The state health plan filed that lawsuit against Atrium Health in a Wake County Superior Court last Friday to stop the launch of a new program for state health plan members starting January.
One of next year, Judge Matthew Houston issued his decision Tuesday after a hearing in Sanford, North Carolina. The suit, which lists the state health plan, the Office of the North Carolina State Treasurer, and Treasurer Brad Briner in his official capacity, sought a temporary restraining order against what the state health plan called unlawful and unlawful pricing scheme. Atrium said in a press release on October the sixth that it. Health affordability protection program, which they recently announced and are planning to roll out early next year, intended to address the higher healthcare costs that the state health plan's new tiered provider structure imposed on patients seeking care at Atrium Health. The health plan contends that Atrium's affordability program not only violates state and federal law, but would also put the plan on a path to bankruptcy.
The state health plan said in a press release on Wednesday that it is now building upon Atrium's commitment to plan members and enhancing its impact, and that the move, except for the previously agreed to access facilities, will save the plan hundreds of millions of dollars. And if Atrium Keeps its commitments; it will not impact member costs, according to the release. Members who choose Atrium Health providers and facilities are held harmless under this action, assuming that Atrium follows through with its program. Through the new program, Atrium said that enrolled members will have the lowest copays and overall share of costs for care at any Atrium facility or provider across the state, including primary and specialty care, outpatient and inpatient services, than any other healthcare system across the state of North Carolina. Steve Smoot, who is the president of the Advocate Healths of Advocates Health North Carolina and Georgia division, of which Atrium is a part of, said in the October the sixth release that regardless of how Atrium Health is categorized under the state health plan's new structure, the new Atrium Health Affordability Protection Program is designed to ensure that members can continue receiving care from Atrium Health at its lowest cost.
Sharing available under the state health plan. State Treasurer Brad Briner, the treasurer in Brad Briner, who also chairs the state health plan board of trustees, noted that the program violates state and federal law. From his vantage point, as the state health plans board of trustees voted in July on new provider tier on a new provider tier system, including preferred access, non-preferred, and out-of-network. Briner told reporters over the last few weeks. Atrium put out a press release to try and essentially change the preferred provider program at the last minute.
They can't do that. We run the plan for our members, and it benefits in the long run. Their proposal is a is short term oriented, long term, extremely costly, and we can't let it go forward. He said that under state law, the state treasurer and the state health plan have the authority to manage the plan. And what Atrium is trying to do is manage the benefits for itself.
The new out-of-network designation would not affect the 12 Atrium hospitals and associated clinics that will be added to the access-level plan for members starting on January the first. They include Atrium's rural hospitals, many of them across the state. And plan members' benefits will be almost identical to the benefits they have this year for out-of-pocket and deductible costs. The agreement also moved the Levine Children's Hospital in Charlotte, Jeff Gordon Children's Hospital in Concord, and the Bernard Children's Hospital in the Triad area into the access level for plan members. Briner said that the back and forth between the state health plan and Atrium may be unsettling for plan members, but they should expect to have the same coverage set by the plan over the summer.
The treasurer said in a recent press release, "So one of my duties is to keep the state health plan financially solvent, so it can continue as an incentive for teachers and state employees. I will not let one hospital system destroy the plan, raise premiums." On every teacher and state employee, and send us into overwhelming debt. State Treasurer Brad Brainer said that if they fail to take action today, Atrium would continue to charge the plan higher rates in 2027. Saying in part, "So even if members pay less out of pocket on the front end, the plan estimates the resulting costs could quickly reach a quarter of a billion dollars. This is an amount that the plan is not in a financial position to absorb." Tom Freeman, the executive administrator of the state health plan, said in the release that other hospital systems, including UNC Health, Novant Health, and Duke Health, provide the plan with deeper discounts for high-quality care, which in turn puts the plan on a better financial path forward and avoids having to increase member copays and premiums.
While the state health plan says that Atrium providers deliver high-quality healthcare, the decision. Made by the health systems executives would put the plan in the red. According to the release, it reads in part: By moving Atrium to the out-of-network tier, the plan has little to no financial responsibility to Atrium Health, and if Atrium keeps its promise, our members will still pay the reduced costs outlined by the program. The action we're taking today simply shifts the cost burden to Atrium, not the state health plan. The SHP stressed that members can continue to choose where they go for their health care, and that the move is to keep the plan solvent today and into the future.
State health plan officials are also expanding open enrollment, which began on Monday, October the twelfth, and was scheduled to close on October the thirtieth. Due to some of these changes and a lot of the last minute things going on between Atrium Health and the state health plan, that deadline has now been extended through. Friday, November the sixth, Atrium Health did not respond to Carolina Journal's request for comment prior to publication.
However, I would suspect in the coming days we will hear again from Atrium as the state health plan makes a major move Wednesday, moving Atrium Health to what it's called to what it calls an its out of network tier for those across the state of North Carolina that are members of the state health plan. We will keep an eye on this back and forth of battle. You can read continuing coverage of this story over on our website this morning, carolinajournal dot com. Look for the headline: North Carolina State Health Plan Moves Most Atrium Providers Out of Network. It's five thirty seven.
Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, one hundred seven point nine FM, WBT. I'm Nick Craig. Good Thursday morning to you. Early voting officially kicks off across the state of North Carolina today in all 100 counties. As we approach the November the third midterm election, to walk us through all of the pertinent details as it relates to early voting, it's my pleasure as always to welcome Dr.
Andy Jackson from the John Locke Foundation to our airwaves this morning on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Andy, before we get into some details on early voting itself, the voter registration deadline was last Friday, October the ninth. To go through the process of registering, but during this early voting period, there is a process called same-day registration. Can you walk us through exactly how that process plays out for folks that maybe are new to the state of North Carolina or missed that voter registration deadline back on October the ninth? Yeah, yeah, sure.
If you are a qualified voter in North Carolina, but you haven't registered yet, this is a chance that you can do that, even though you've missed the normal voter registration window. What you have to do is you just come in, say that you're not registered, but you want to, and then present a document that shows your address and your proof of identity.
So, if you have a current driver's license or statewide ID that shows Your current address that you're going to be using as your voting residence, you can present that. If your voter ID has a a different address on it, like you've recently moved, you can present what they call a HAVA document, something like a utility bill or something other kind of something more official than just "Hey, trust me." That shows that this is your address combined with your ID to prove identity. You bring those things in, then they will register. You to vote, and then you can go ahead and vote the same day, or you can come back and vote again later. A few people actually do that; they will actually register but not vote.
Only a handful each year, and then the state board is going to confirm your address. And assuming that that confirmation comes out okay, they're going to send a card out to you. You return the card as long as it doesn't come back undeliverable to them. Then, then. You are going to go ahead and have your registration official, and your ballot will be counted.
There are a handful of people, maybe about a thousand a year, twelve hundred a year, that will not have their votes counted because their address could not be confirmed.
So that's exactly what I was going to ask you. For those that are regular, already registered in North Carolina ahead of that October the ninth deadline, they'll show up and go through the process of voting. For the same day registrants, as I understand it, you just mentioned the county board of election. I guess what mails you something to verify your address, and if you respond to that, you're good to go. But if you don't respond to that, your ballot doesn't get counted.
Is that how that process plays out?
Well. It's actually easier as long as they don't get a returned as undeliverable. They will count that. They will go ahead and count your ballot and and validate your address that way.
So as long as there's not something like you know Joe Smith does not live at this address. As long as they don't get that, you'll go ahead and be counted. And you can also change your address during same day registration.
So if you've moved within a county to a new residency, and so you're moved. Into a new area, a new precinct, and maybe you live in a different state house district. For example, you can change your registration to that new address. And obviously, it's important for folks that may be going through this process either today during the start of early voting or sometime over the next two and a half weeks that they verify what sort of documentation they need to bring to make sure that they are above board on everything. All right, Andy, let's walk through the regular process for those that are already registered here in North Carolina.
Maybe a little bit later on this morning or over the next couple of days, you want to vote early during this midterm. Election cycle. How is that process going to work?
Well, it's voting early is essentially just like voting on election day. You show up now. Every county has at least one early voting location. If you're in a smaller county, it's probably at your county board of elections office, or sometimes they will have a different location. Like if the board of elections office is in like a shoebox sized room, and they don't have room there, they might move it over to like a nearby firehouse or something like that.
But you will go there during early voting hours, and there's once again some variety. Most of the time, it's from seven to seven. But for some of those county board locations, that's just normal business hours. And then you go in, you present your ID. They'll already have you in the records, so they will put your ballot in the correct precinct, and they will give you the correct ballot that you would vote for your precinct, and you just mark it.
Tabulated just like when you vote on election day. Walk us through the voter ID requirements. There's been a lot of changes on that over the last couple of years here in North Carolina. Is it still fair to say, Andy, that for the vast majority of folks that will be voting during this midterm, that it will be a state issued driver's license or a state issued ID that they will use to vote? Yeah, as a practical matter, because the vast majority of North Carolinians have a driver's license or otherwise have a state-issued ID from the Department of Motor Vehicles.
But you know, military IDs are good, tribal IDs are good, student IDs as long as they've been cleared with the state Board of Elections. You might want to verify that before you come in if your student ID that your particular student ID is good.
Some employer IDs. Are good. There's a wide variety of acceptable IDs.
So if you're not sure, and you have a driver's license, bring that. If you don't have a driver's license or a state issued ID, bring what you have, and then they. They can check and make sure that this is a valid one. But if, for whatever reason, you don't have any of the acceptable IDs, you can still fill out an exception form. You will mark that form, sign that form.
You're going to check a box saying why you don't have an ID, and unless the county board of elections has reasons to believe that that affidavit that you sign is false. Then they will accept your your excuse, and then they will accept your ballot and go ahead and vote that ballot. You know, Andy, one of the examples that we've seen in the past couple of years, and unfortunately, it happens to people probably more often than they'd like. They lose their wallet, maybe it gets pulled out of a purse or left accidentally somewhere. And you, obviously, for the vast majority of people, you have your driver's license in your wallet during that early voting period.
Is that an example of why you might fill out that voter ID exemption form? Yes, it is, and so you would fill out that form. You'd say, you know, I lost my ID. That or I currently do not have an ID. That's one of the boxes you can check, and then a couple of options would be, and if you have that option, you can go for the affidavit, or you can vote provisionally, and then when you get your ID laterally, either you find your wallet or you get a new ID, then you can come to the county board of elections, and when you get your ID.
Later,ly either you find your wallet or you get a new ID. Then you can come to the County Board of Elections, show your ID, and then they'll go ahead and tabulate your ballot. Then, so you have a couple of options if you have an ID but you've lost it.
So during this early voting period, which kicks off again later today here across the state of North Carolina, can folks still vote absentee by mail if they have chosen to do so or still want that opportunity? Yes, I mean that they absentee ballots are accepted through election day through. When the time the polls close, so seven thirty election day, they'll receive it.
Now, it has to be received by the board of elections. That was changed a few years ago. It's not when it's postmarked; it's when it's received.
So, as a practical matter, you should try to mail that that ballot at least a week before. It usually takes three four days for the ballot to get in, but why take a chance? And then there, you have a way of tracking your Ballot. The state board of elections has ballot tracks, so you can track your ballot. And if you see that it hasn't been voted, then you need to go ahead and make an effort to go in and vote in person on election day at your local precinct.
During this early voting period, as well, there is something that is called curbside voting.
Some in our audience may have elderly relatives, elderly parents that maybe don't want to vote absentee by mail. We know that there's a process there as it relates to photocopies of an ID. D and signed affidavits. Maybe they're just not interested in going down that path, Andy. But at the same time, standing in line and getting out of a car and walking into a voting location isn't as practical either.
How does this curbside voting work during the early voting period? Yeah, well, there is some variation to the the exact process for these, but basically, you're going to go up, you're going to park nearby.
Some locations are going to have a button to push, and you, and somebody will come out with a ballot for you to mark. They'll do the same process. They'll you know they'll check you out in the poll book. They will give you a ballot. You will mark the ballot, and they have a little sleeve they can put it in.
So. Not going to read the ballot, and then they will slide it into the tabulator for you. Other places, you will park, and through an open door, they'll be able to see the location. I've seen both of those at various sites.
So there are means. No matter how they they figure it out in the details, there are means for them to know that there's somebody out there that needs to vote, and this is a requirement at every location.
So if you can't get out and and walk to a polling place, they will come out to you. Yes, and we do see that process here across North Carolina. All right, Andy. As we round out the conversation, it won't be long before we start getting some of these early results—not the election results themselves, but the breakdown as to who these individuals are voting during the early voting period. Any final tips?
Any final information as we watch these results pour in over the next couple of days?
Well, we're definitely going to get more usable data because we're going from having about fifteen hundred, two thousand ballots a day to well over a hundred thousand ballots a day, and so it's meteor, but it's still dangerous to project because every year things can be different. We don't know what voting behavior is going to do from year to year because we know, like two years ago, there was this big boost in Republican turnout. During early voting, is that going to happen again this year, or are they going to revert back to their relative reliance on election day voting compared to Democrats? And the answer to that question, we won't know until election day.
So we're going to have a better idea of what the electorate looks like with this new bigger data, but we're not going to have a perfect lens to figure out what the electorate looks like. And it's amazing, Andy.
Something like inclement weather over a couple of days span of time can have a major impact. No surprise that people don't want to get out of their car and run through a library or fire station parking lot when it's pouring rain during that period. We're going to be keeping a very close eye on these numbers over the next couple of weeks as we approach November the third. You can get additional coverage and details on some of these metrics over at CarolinaElections.com. As always, we appreciate the update this morning, Doctor Andy.
Jackson from the John Locke Foundation joins us on the Carolina Journal News Hour. Good morning again. It's five fifty-five. Welcome back to the Carolina Journal News Hour, Charlotte's FM News Talk, one hundred seven point nine FM, WBT. Should be an interesting day in Raleigh today, as we learned over the last couple of days that U.S.
Attorney Ellis Boyle, who serves in the Eastern District of North Carolina, which does cover our state capital in Raleigh, has scheduled a press conference for two p.m. today.
Sources close to the Seen tell a Carolina Journal that this is going to involve individuals, multiple individuals here across the across North Carolina who lied about their citizenship and voted in the 2024 presidential election. There is a court hearing that is scheduled for early this morning, where multiple of those individuals, according to our sources, are set to go through the legal process, and then we will learn. From U.S. Attorney Ellis Boyle coming up this afternoon as to who these individuals are, what the exactly situation unfolded, likely how they registered to vote here in North Carolina, where what counties or what areas of the state, presumably all in the Eastern District, as voter fraud remains a hot topic of conversation as we followed over the last couple of weeks. A letter from the North Carolina State Board of Elections going out just this.
Week to more than thirteen hundred people across the state that were potentially identified, according to the federal save database, as being illegally registered to vote in North Carolina while not being legal U.S. citizens. Teresa Peka, our friend from CarolinaJournal.com, will be down at that press conference. Taking place around two o'clock this afternoon, she'll join us coming up tomorrow morning with all the details right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. It's also the first day of early voting, so we will be taking a look at those figures over the next couple of days as well as we continue the home stretch all the way until the November the third election.
Coverage of all of those stories and more right here on the Carolina Journal News Hour. That's going to do it for a Thursday edition. WBT. News is next, followed by Good Morning BT. We are back with you tomorrow morning, five to six, right here on Charlotte's FM News Talk, one hundred seven point nine FM, WBT.
