After Mark Galli published his anti-Trump editorial at Christianity Today, Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham, took to Facebook claiming that his father voted for Trump in 2016. Billy Graham founded Christianity Today in the 1950s.
I hadn’t shared who my father @BillyGraham voted for in 2016, but because of @CTMagazine’s article, I felt it necessary to share now. My father knew @realDonaldTrump, believed in him & voted for him. He believed Donald J. Trump was the man for this hour in history for our nation.
— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) December 20, 2019
John Schmalzbauer, the Blanche Gorman Strong Chair in Protestant Studies at Missouri State University, did some digging at the website of The North Carolina State Board of Elections. He recorded what he found on Twitter:
Did Billy Graham vote for Trump or anyone else in 2016? The North Carolina State Board of Elections website database lists a William Franklin Graham (born in 1918, the correct year) in Buncombe County, home of Asheville. He registered to vote in 1968 (as a Democrat). pic.twitter.com/fkiC7yppua
— John Schmalzbauer (@OzarksWatcher) December 21, 2019
William “Billy” Franklin Graham Jr., the famous evangelist, father of Franklin Graham, and founder of Christianity Today, was born on November 7, 1918. He was a registered Democrat. This definitely looks like him.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections website shows that William Franklin Graham voted by absentee mail ballot in 2016. The last time he voted in person was 2002. pic.twitter.com/a1YXdfylQA
— John Schmalzbauer (@OzarksWatcher) December 21, 2019
Is this Billy Graham’s voting history? I have no way to tell if this William Frank Graham (born in 1918) is the same man. See for yourself at https://t.co/a18WRHVI9G
— John Schmalzbauer (@OzarksWatcher) December 21, 2019
William Frank Graham was removed from the voter rolls sometime after the 2016 election. pic.twitter.com/0qqDsWY4IO
— John Schmalzbauer (@OzarksWatcher) December 21, 2019
Did Billy Graham know what he was doing when he (or someone else) filled out an absentee mail ballot? Some in family have implied he was not capable of voting in person. Others, like son Franklin Graham, say Graham willingly voted for Trump. Records don’t answer that question.
— John Schmalzbauer (@OzarksWatcher) December 21, 2019uer (@OzarksWatcher) December 22, 2019
A Ruth Bell Graham appears on the voter rolls for Buncombe County. Like Buncombe County resident William Frank Graham, she registered in 1968, but as a Republican. pic.twitter.com/SjuoUsWg5h
— John Schmalzbauer (@OzarksWatcher) December 21, 2019
Ruth Bell Graham last voted in 2004, by absentee ballot. That would make sense since the evangelist’s wife died in 2007. pic.twitter.com/W6n7PDKQqE
— John Schmalzbauer (@OzarksWatcher) December 21, 2019
So it looks like both a “William Franklin Graham” and a “Ruth Bell Graham” registered in 1968. Ruth Bell Graham was the wife of the evangelist Billy Graham. Montreat is the small North Carolina town where the Graham’s lived. It is in Buncombe County.
Search North Carolina State Board of Election records here: https://t.co/a18WRHVI9G
— John Schmalzbauer (@OzarksWatcher) December 21, 2019
Not sure the database recorded the age of the two Grahams in Buncombe County. Both were originally listed as legacy voters, which means they were registered before voters were required to supply date of birth. Here’s some information about that: https://t.co/4frKNO1OrI
— John Schmalzbauer (@OzarksWatcher) December 22, 2019
Schmalzbauer corrects the previous tweets that said “William Frank Graham”:
*The voter database record is for “William Franklin Graham,” not “William Frank Graham”
— John Schmalzbauer (@OzarksWatcher) December 22, 2019
This information, of course, does not prove whether Billy Graham voted for Trump, but it does present some interesting context for Franklin’s statement about his father’s vote in 2016.
