Minuscule Votes, Massive Consequences

Episode summary:

Non‑citizen voter registrations in North Carolina may look like a tiny number, but in a swing state, “minuscule” can flip races and shake public confidence. We walk through recent razor‑thin results—from statewide judicial races to local contests—to show how even a few questionable registrations matter. Then we dig into why “we don’t know” is the real problem, and why election security must be treated like Fort Knox, not a casual storefront. In this Daily Update, we make the case that guarding our elections as our most precious national asset is common sense, not fearmongering.

What you’ll learn / Key moments

• 00:01 – Why this is about numbers and confidence in North Carolina elections.
• 00:10 – The report on roughly 1,600 potential non‑citizen registrations and why some media dismiss the issue as “minuscule.”
• 00:49 – How recent NC races decided by 734, 23, and 910 votes prove there’s no such thing as a harmless margin in a battleground state.
• 01:27 – Why “we do not know” about suspect registrations is the real threat to voter trust, not just the raw count.
• 01:47 – Fort Knox, the White House, and why we should demand the same paranoid level of access control for our elections.

What you can do

If we want real confidence in North Carolina’s elections, we cannot shrug off even a small number of questionable registrations as no big deal. Check your own voter registration, stay informed about what the Board of Elections is doing, and share solid, fact‑based reporting with friends and neighbors. Support reforms that tighten verification, improve transparency, and treat our election systems like the vault that protects our political future, not an open door.

It is about the numbers – it is about confidence.

This is the Wilmington Standard Daily Update for Tuesday July 21, 2026.

The Carolina Journal reports that about 1600 potential registered voters in North Carolina may be non-US citizens.  That number makes up a very small percentage of the 7.8 million voters properly registered in our state.

In a piece published in The News and Observer, deputy opinion editor Paige Masten poo-pooed that low minuscule number – her words not ours -  as another instance of Republicans “stok[ing] fears that undocumented immigrants are diluting the votes of American citizens.” 

Thankfully, it is a low number.  At the very least, it shows our registration process overall works well to protect the integrity of our elections. 

Yet consider in 2024 Alison Riggs – Democrat for the North Carolina Supreme Court – beat Justice Jefferson Griffin in a statewide race by 734 votes.  In Rockingham County, Sheriff Sam Page beat incumbent Phil Berger in the primary by 23 votes. Here in Wilmington, Luke Waddell lost to Chakema Clinton-Quintana by just 910 votes in the municipal elections.  While we are not suggesting that every one of those votes was cast by an illegally registered non-US voter, it does show that there is no such thing as miniscule in a battlefield state like North Carolina.

But confidence in our election security goes beyond the numbers.  The report indicates around 1600 registered voters are pinging the alarm.  The number could be less – it could be more.  We simply do not know – but thankfully the Republican board of elections is looking into it.

But it is that “we do not know” part that is the problem.  If you were to keep your most precious assets in a vault surrounded by crooks and thieves who want to rob you blind and were told that the keepers of the secure area are mostly sure about its security – would you trust it?  If you were told that there is some evidence that others might have a key to your vault but that number is probably very miniscule –  would you be confident that your items are safe? 

That is the whole point that Ms. Masten and others on the liberal left are missing.  Fort Knox is secure because they are almost paranoid about access.  The White House is secure because they ARE paranoid about access.  There is no such thing for them as a small number of attempts at incursions.  Just one person getting in is a failure for the entire system.

But by all means, lets not be worried about a miniscule number of people who want access to our most precious national asset – our elections.

For the Wilmington Standard, I’m Reuel Sample.  Thanks for listening.