North Carolina Voter Mary Kay Helling Reveals To Congress How She Was Taken Off Voter Rolls

Forbes Breaking News

During a House Administration Committee hearing on Tuesday, Mary Kay Helling, a voter in North Carolina, testified about her experience being removed from the voter rolls in North Carolina.

Transcript

00:00Gentleman is back. Ms. Haling is recognized for five minutes.

00:07Good morning. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Mr. Ranking Member and the rest of the committee

00:13for giving me the opportunity to testify today. My name is Mary Kay Haling. I'm a resident of

00:21Raleigh, North Carolina, a former teacher, a former Nash Rocky Mountain School Board member

00:26in North Carolina, a retired fitness instructor, a U.S. citizen, and an unaffiliated registered

00:34voter in Wake County. I moved back to North Carolina in late January of 2016 and promptly

00:42registered to vote on February 19th using my name and the last four digits of my Social

00:47Security number. I have voted regularly since then. In 2024, I voted in person in both the

00:55primary and general elections. My name was on the voter registration list. I showed my

01:02valid ID, my North Carolina driver's license, with my photo and my current address. Never

01:09once did I doubt that my vote was valid. After the 2024 election, I received a postcard in the

01:17mail stating that I could be on an incomplete voter registration list. I scanned the QR code

01:24and spent well over an hour trying to find my name. The site was difficult to navigate,

01:31and I had no luck. I chalked it up to a mistake, since my husband and I registered at the same

01:37time and he didn't receive one. Weeks later, on a more searchable site, to my surprise, my

01:43name popped up. Needless to say, I was shocked and upset, since I had voted regularly since 2016,

01:50with no issues, by providing my valid ID and having it checked against the registration list.

01:58After that happened, I went to the Board of Elections to find out the problem, and evidently,

02:03there was a problem with my name and the four digits of my Social Security number, even though

02:08I had filled out the form correctly. It was possibly a clerical error, I was told. No one had

02:16ever notified me that there was an issue with my registration. While there, I changed my registration,

02:22this time using my North Carolina driver's license. I double and triple checked it. This

02:29all took work and persistence. It was frustrating and time-consuming. Hopefully, it is correct

02:35this time, but can I be sure? I thought it was the first time. How does anyone know their vote

02:41is safe? Once the Griffin case was settled, my vote was counted. Phew, this ordeal was

02:48over, or so I thought. I was then made aware of the U.S. versus North Carolina Board of Elections

02:55case. Here we go again. Only this time, over 200,000 registered voters in North Carolina are

03:05having their registrations challenged as incomplete, be it missing North Carolina driver's license

03:12numbers or the last four digits of their Social Security number. I understand that my name is

03:18on that list. I was born in Wisconsin in a family that discussed politics around the kitchen

03:24table. It was stressed the importance of voting. Voting is not just a privilege or a right.

03:32It's a responsibility. Your civic duty. My vote is important. It is my voice in how our city,

03:39our county, our state, and our nation is governed. I'm here to represent all those North Carolinians

03:45whose voter registrations are being challenged. Will all 200,000-plus voters be contacted? Or will

03:53they find out next time they vote and can only receive a provisional ballot? How will you ever be

03:58able to contact that many people? How many will fall through the cracks? If contacted, will they be able

04:05to navigate a system that isn't always easy? Some may not have computer access or savvy or transportation

04:13to the Board of Elections office. Others may get frustrated and give up because believe me, it has been a long

04:20and frustrating ordeal. When you go to vote and your name is on the registration list, you show

04:27your valid ID, which has your photo and your current address. You should feel confident that your civic

04:35duty has been completed and your voice has been heard. There are voters like me who followed the rules, provided

04:43all the information election officials asked for when they registered to vote. Is it fair to make them

04:50go through this frustration? I don't believe so. This process is threatening the voices of North Carolina

05:00voters and fracturing confidence in the government. Please do not remove the voices of registered North

05:07North Carolina voters. And I thank you for your time.

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