Stein Urges Democrats to Turn Out so Republicans Can’t ‘Steal an Election’ 49%

By Bryan Anderson6%

8/3/2026, 2:03:02 PM

BS Summary: This article contains 23 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Authority, Optimism Bias, and Recency Bias, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 21.7% saturation with 96 hits. Analysis detected 671 faulty-reasoning hits from 443 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 43.1% and a BS Rank of 49% (14,278 of 27,720 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 51.50% of the article peer group.

A top leader is claiming the opposing party is trying to steal an election in North Carolina. 
And no, it’s not President Donald Trump. 
At Saturday’s Democratic Party Unity Dinner, Gov. 
Josh Stein chastised state GOP lawmakers for passing a bill in late 2024 that stripped the governor of the ability to appoint state and county election board members. 
Stein said Auditor Dave Boliek, who now holds those powers, and his former election liaison, Dallas Woodhouse, pressured local election officials to curb Sunday voting and reject voting plans that included certain college campuses. 
Stein also criticized a rule the State Board of Elections’ conservative majority approved last month making it easier to reject ballots cast by voters seeking an exemption from the state’s photo ID law. 
In previous elections, county election board members needed to vote unanimously to deny someone’s request. 
The new rule would enable county election board members to deny the exemption with a majority vote. 
“They’re trying to make it harder for folks to vote and easier for them to throw out votes after the fact on a partisan basis,” Stein told attendees on Saturday. 
“But you want to know how they cannot steal an election? 
When we turn out in droves and kick their tails.” 
Stein’s remarks were a notable escalation, since he is usually measured with his words. 
But they reflect a growing feud between him and Boliek. 
Stein’s office didn’t immediately provide comment to <em>The Assembly</em>. 
NCSBE Executive Director Sam Hayes declined to comment on Stein’s remarks, as did Boliek. 
But the auditor has recently tangled with the governor on social media over a bill advancing in the legislature this week that would allow the auditor to perform post-election audits of election systems. 
Stein said the provision “invites the auditor and state board to sow mistrust in our elections. 
&#8221; 
Boliek quipped back on X, “What sows mistrust is a partisan governor that chooses political posturing over constructive dialogue.” 
Stein’s remark suggesting Republicans would try to “steal” the November election runs counter to the confidence he and other prominent Democrats expressed in North Carolina’s election system after the March primary. 
U.S. 
Rep. 
Deborah Ross wrote on Facebook last month, “North Carolina&#8217;s elections are safe, fair, and secure. 
Don&#8217;t let anyone convince you otherwise.” 
Stein told reporters at a March news conference, “One great thing about our system is it has a lot of failsafe methods to ensure accuracy.” 
The NCSBE posted on its Facebook page at the time, “Thank you Governor Josh Stein for stating your confidence in the accuracy of our state&#8217;s elections system.” 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 7.7%Bryan Anderson: 0.9%The Assembly NC: 1.1%Confirmation Bias7.7%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.0%The Assembly NC: 0.6%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.6%The Assembly NC: 1.6%Availability Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.1%The Assembly NC: 0.3%Representativeness Heuristic0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.2%The Assembly NC: 0.3%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.8%The Assembly NC: 0.8%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 6.8%Bryan Anderson: 0.9%The Assembly NC: 1.6%Framing Effect6.8%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.1%The Assembly NC: 0.5%Loss Aversion0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.0%The Assembly NC: 0.3%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.1%The Assembly NC: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 11.3%Bryan Anderson: 1.2%The Assembly NC: 1.4%Optimism Bias11.3%This article: 3.6%Bryan Anderson: 0.1%The Assembly NC: 0.8%Pessimism Bias3.6%This article: 21.7%Bryan Anderson: 1.7%The Assembly NC: 3.8%Negativity Bias21.7%This article: 4.3%Bryan Anderson: 1.4%The Assembly NC: 1.1%Self-Serving Bias4.3%This article: 2.3%Bryan Anderson: 0.8%The Assembly NC: 0.5%Fundamental Attribution Error2.3%This article: 7.4%Bryan Anderson: 0.5%The Assembly NC: 0.2%Actor-Observer Bias7.4%This article: 1.4%Bryan Anderson: 0.8%The Assembly NC: 0.5%In-Group Bias1.4%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.2%The Assembly NC: 0.1%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.7%The Assembly NC: 0.7%Halo Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.0%The Assembly NC: 0.0%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.0%The Assembly NC: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 10.2%Bryan Anderson: 0.7%The Assembly NC: 0.5%Recency Bias10.2%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.1%The Assembly NC: 0.2%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.0%The Assembly NC: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 6.3%Bryan Anderson: 0.9%The Assembly NC: 0.4%Ad Hominem6.3%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.0%The Assembly NC: 0.3%Straw Man0.0%This article: 15.1%Bryan Anderson: 1.5%The Assembly NC: 1.4%Appeal to Authority15.1%This article: 6.8%Bryan Anderson: 0.8%The Assembly NC: 0.9%False Dilemma6.8%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.4%The Assembly NC: 0.4%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.0%The Assembly NC: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.8%The Assembly NC: 1.7%Hasty Generalization0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.0%The Assembly NC: 0.2%Red Herring0.0%This article: 2.3%Bryan Anderson: 0.1%The Assembly NC: 0.2%Bandwagon2.3%This article: 6.5%Bryan Anderson: 1.2%The Assembly NC: 2.4%Appeal to Emotion6.5%This article: 8.1%Bryan Anderson: 0.4%The Assembly NC: 0.4%Begging the Question8.1%This article: 3.6%Bryan Anderson: 1.4%The Assembly NC: 1.2%Post Hoc (False Cause)3.6%This article: 4.3%Bryan Anderson: 0.2%The Assembly NC: 0.0%Tu Quoque4.3%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.0%The Assembly NC: 0.1%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.2%The Assembly NC: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.0%The Assembly NC: 0.1%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 2.3%Bryan Anderson: 1.3%The Assembly NC: 1.3%Anecdotal2.3%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.0%The Assembly NC: 0.0%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.3%The Assembly NC: 0.5%Ambiguity (Equivocation)0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.0%The Assembly NC: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.0%The Assembly NC: 0.1%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.0%The Assembly NC: 0.0%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.1%The Assembly NC: 0.1%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.1%The Assembly NC: 0.1%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 3.4%Bryan Anderson: 0.6%The Assembly NC: 0.8%Unattributed Quote3.4%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.3%The Assembly NC: 0.5%Quote-first Misdirection0.0%This article: 5.9%Bryan Anderson: 0.6%The Assembly NC: 1.2%Biased Writer Voice5.9%This article: 3.6%Bryan Anderson: 0.3%The Assembly NC: 0.2%Indoctrination3.6%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.1%The Assembly NC: 0.1%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Bryan Anderson: 0.0%The Assembly NC: 0.0%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 6.8%Bryan Anderson: 0.2%The Assembly NC: 0.1%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…6.8%

443 words analyzed.

Speakers

5speakers63%attributed speech166writer words
Selected voice

Deborah Ross

100%flagged-word coverage
21 attributed words7.6% of attributed speech60% writer coverage
0%37.5%75.0%Unattributed Quote+71.4 ptsWriter: 0.0%Deborah Ross: 71.4%71.4%Indoctrination+28.6 ptsWriter: 0.0%Deborah Ross: 28.6%28.6%Biased Writer Voice-15.7 ptsWriter: 15.7%Deborah Ross: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.