- A federal judge has dismissed one piece of national and state Republican groups' lawsuit challenging 225,000 voter registrations in North Carolina.
- US Chief District Judge Richard Myers ruled that the GOP groups had no right to bring a suit to enforce the State Board of Elections' compliance with a federal law for maintaining voter registration lists.
- Myers determined that the case should head back to state court to address a second claim. Republican groups argue that state election officials' actions violate a fundamental right to vote under the state constitution.
A federal judge has dismissed a portion of national and state Republican groups’ lawsuit challenging 225,000 voter registrations in North Carolina. The judge ruled that the remaining portions of the lawsuit should head back to state court for a final resolution.
US Chief District Judge Richard Myers issued his decision Thursday after a hearing in Wilmington.
Myers first rejected a request from the Republican National Committee and North Carolina Republican Party to send the entire case back to state court. The judge then determined that he could address one of two claims GOP groups made in their initial lawsuit in state court.
The RNC and NCGOP filed their first claim under a state law — NC Gen. Stat. § 163-82.11 (c) — alleging that the State Board of Elections failed to maintain its voter registration list in compliance with the federal Help America Vote Act.
Myers determined that the Republican groups had no right to bring the suit.
“In reaching its conclusion that Count One fails on the merits, the court is not insensitive to Plaintiffs’ concerns about election integrity and voter disenfranchisement,” Myers wrote in his 44-page order. “Nor is its decision in any way a stamp of approval on Defendants’ conduct. But ‘[r]aising up causes of action where a statute has not created them’ is ‘for common-law courts,’ not this ‘federal tribunal[].’”
“In the absence of any indication that North Carolina’s General Assembly intended for private litigants to enforce the provisions of Section 163-82.11, this court may not appoint itself as ‘oversee[r]’ of ‘executive action,’ which ‘would significantly alter the allocation of power … away from a democratic form of government.’”
Myers refused to rule on the Republican groups’ second complaint, “a direct claim under the North Carolina Constitution, alleging that ‘Defendants’ actions directly interfere with North Carolinian’ s fundamental right to vote.’”
That claim “raises a ‘novel’ issue of North Carolina law (whether the State’s noncompliance with state and federal election law can give rise to state constitutional injury).” Myers cited “compelling [federalism] reasons for declining” to address that issue. “[S]tate courts should decide the scope and extent of state constitutional rights,” he wrote.
“Accordingly, the court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over Count Two and remands that claim to state court, which will ‘best promote the values of economy, convenience, fairness, and comity,’” Myers concluded.
Myers stayed his ruling until Tuesday in case the disputing parties seek an appeal.
The voter registration lawsuit filed in August argued that the elections board failed to require identification from prospective voters to prove citizenship. GOP groups argued that by violating the Help America Vote Act and not checking the identification of approximately 225,000 voters, the agency opened the door for noncitizens to vote.
According to the suit, the NCSBE used a voter registration form before December 2023 that failed to require HAVA-required identification information, such as a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number.
The RNC and NCGOP argued that the elections board “has refused to take remedial action and did not reach out to these voters to collect the required information. The agency has offered a half-hearted promise to North Carolinians that those ineligible to register, but were allowed to anyways, will naturally filter themselves out.”
The suit called for the State Board of Elections to remove affected voters from the voting rolls or to force them to cast provisional ballots in this fall’s election.
