A North Carolina attorney is urging residents to speak out about proposed election rules she says could affect voters across the state.
Yolanda Trotman shared a video on Instagram calling on people in North Carolina to submit public comments regarding potential rule changes being considered by the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
According to Trotman, the proposed rules involve using a federal database known as Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) to review and potentially challenge voter registrations.
“This could literally impact every single voter that is here in North Carolina,” she said in the video.
Database Use Under Consideration
The SAVE system is a federal database designed to verify immigration status for certain government programs. Under the proposed rules being considered by the state election board, the database could be used to flag voter registrations for further review.
Trotman said voters who are flagged could receive a letter requiring them to verify their eligibility within a limited period of time. If they fail to respond or resolve the issue in time, she warned, they could be removed from the voter rolls.
“The only way that you cure it, if you get the one letter that they’re going to send you, you have to cure it within a certain amount of time or you’re going to be completely removed from the voter rolls,” she said.
Concerns Over Accuracy
Trotman also raised concerns about the reliability of the system, noting that the database has faced criticism in several states.
“The problem with this particular database is that the Board of Elections has already said it is unreliable,” she said.
She argued that using the database to challenge voter registrations could potentially lead to legitimate voters being flagged due to mismatched records or other administrative errors.
Call for Public Input
The attorney encouraged North Carolina residents to submit public comments on the proposed rules before the board’s deadline.
She pointed viewers to a website created by Democracy North Carolina that directs users to the state’s official public comment portal.
According to Trotman, submitting comments requires only basic information such as a name, email address, and a short statement of opinion.
“It literally took me a minute to do that,” she said, encouraging viewers to share the information widely.
Broader Voting Debate
The proposal comes amid ongoing national debates about election security, voter access, and the role of databases and verification systems in maintaining voter rolls.
While supporters of such measures often argue they are necessary to ensure accurate voter records, critics warn that overly aggressive verification systems could risk disenfranchising eligible voters if errors occur.
For now, the rules remain under consideration as election officials gather public feedback before deciding whether to move forward with the changes.
