Catawba College has received new funding to continue its collaboration with The Carter Center. The goal is to bolster democratic values in the state.
Catawba’s Center for North Carolina Politics & Public Service will use $800,000 in anonymous gifts to fund public awareness campaigns about how elections are run, depolarization programs, opinion research and more. It’s part of The Carter Center’s ongoing nationwide effort to address election misinformation.
Associate Director of The Carter Center’s Conflict Resolution Program Nathan Stock says it works.
"We have seen people who have moderated their views, people who came in maybe a little hot under the collar, thinking that there was some sort of massive fraud in the state," says Stock. "And we've seen those folks walk out the door and say, 'All right, all right. You know, I guess things in North Carolina are okay.'"
Stock says equally as important as education campaigns is the need to remind North Carolinians of their commonality.
Polling data has consistently shown huge majorities reject political violence, and share a desire for civility in political discourse and elected leaders willing to compromise.