The New York Times and Serial Productions announced a new limited podcast series. “The Improvement Association” is hosted by reporter Zoe Chace. It premieres Tuesday, April 13 on NYTimes.com and wherever podcasts are available.
Chace travels to Bladen County, North Carolina to investigate “the power of election fraud allegations.”
“I first stumbled on the weird voting politics of Bladen County several years ago, when I did a story about possible election fraud in the always-exciting race for county Soil and Water Commissioner. At the time, what went down seemed small and contained, and I thought that was that. But then one of my sources called me and told me I had to get back there, because there was something much bigger and more ominous going on.”
Zoe Chace
Here’s the background:
Two years ago, Bladen County, North Carolina, made national headlines. In one of the few cases in modern history where a congressional race was voided due to fraud, the results of an election were thrown out because of evidence the winner’s campaign had tampered with absentee ballots.
But according to some locals, the authorities got it all wrong. For at least a decade, people in this rural county have been pointing the finger at Horace Munn, the leader of a powerful Black advocacy group called the Bladen County Improvement Association PAC, accusing his group of bullying Black voters, tampering with ballots and stealing votes outright. These accusations have never been substantiated, but they persist.
Reporter Zoe Chace goes to Bladen County to find out what’s behind all this suspicion. Is there really rampant election fraud? Who exactly is accusing them? And in small town politics, where rumors and allegations abound, how can you be sure who is telling the truth?
The host, Zoe Chace, is a producer at “This American Life” and has reported for NPR’s “Planet Money”. Nancy Updike produces and is a Senior Editor at This American Life.
