- State and national Republican Party groups and the North Carolina State Board of Elections have reached a deal to end a 2024 lawsuit over mail-in ballot envelopes.
- Lawyers for the GOP groups and the elections board have asked Chief US District Judge Richard Myers to enter an order finalizing the deal and dismissing the suit.
- A retirees group working with Democratic operative Marc Elias' law firm opposes the deal, according to a court document filed Monday.
State and national Republican Party groups and the North Carolina State Board of Elections have reached a deal to end a federal lawsuit over rules linked to mail-in ballot envelopes. They have asked a federal judge to issue an order dismissing the suit.
Plaintiffs working with Democratic operative Marc Elias’ law firm oppose the deal, according to a court document filed Monday.
The North Carolina Republican Party, Republican National Committee, and lead plaintiff Virginia Wasserberg filed suit in September 2024 against the state elections board. The suit challenged guidance the state board had issued to county elections boards for dealing with container-return envelopes tied to mailed-in election ballots.
GOP groups argued that the guidance conflicted with the “CRE Statutes,” state laws explaining how the envelopes should be addressed.
The suit started in state court, but the elections board had the case moved to federal court. Chief US District Judge Richard Myers rejected Republicans’ requests to send the case back to the state level.
Myers also granted a request from the North Carolina Alliance for Retired Americans to intervene in the case. The Elias Law Group represents the alliance.
Democrats led North Carolina’s state and county elections boards when Republicans filed suit last year. Now Republicans hold 3-2 majorities on both the state and local boards, thanks to the provisions of 2024’s Senate Bill 382.
“Plaintiffs and Defendants have agreed to resolve this litigation and respectfully request that the Court enter a consent judgment memorializing their agreement,” lawyers for the GOP groups and the state elections board wrote Monday.
“Plaintiffs and Defendants have agreed, on the terms outlined in their proposed consent judgment, that the Board will reconsider its ruling and this lawsuit should be dismissed without prejudice,” according to the document.
“Following extended negotiations throughout this summer,” the document explained, the elections board to reconsider Republican groups’ request for a declaratory ruling about the challenged election ballot rules.
“Plaintiffs and Defendants acknowledged that the reconsideration might result in the Board altering its position on the interpretation of the CRE Statutes but that the Board would not be required to alter its original position,” the document explained.
A proposed consent judgment would “memorialize” the deal and would dismiss the lawsuit “without prejudice.” That means the Republican groups would be allowed to file suit again in the future.
Elias’ clients “refused to agree to the proposed consent judgment,” according to the document.
“The North Carolina General Assembly has enacted several laws intended to prevent tampering with absentee ballots by requiring that absentee voters seal their ballots in container-return envelopes before submitting the ballots to county boards of elections. The North Carolina State Board of Elections … has advised the county boards that they may disregard the clear requirements of those laws and count absentee ballots that are not returned in sealed container-return envelopes,” Republican lawyers wrote in a November 2024 court filing defending the lawsuit. “Plaintiffs filed this lawsuit to stop the NCSBE from disregarding the unambiguous requirements of North Carolina law.”
“The NCSBE has filed a motion to dismiss this case, arguing that the Board has done nothing wrong,” Republican lawyers added. “First, it claims that the state absentee-voting laws do not mean what they say. Second, the NCSBE claims that federal law prevents it from enforcing the state law.”
“But just as it has misinterpreted state law, the NCSBE also has misinterpreted federal law. Therefore, the Court should reject the NCSBE’s incorrect interpretations of state and federal law and deny the motion to dismiss,” the court filing continued.
Myers issued an October 2024 order denying Republicans’ request to send the case back to state court. The State Board of Elections and Elias’ clients had both opposed returning the case to the state court system.
Myers ruled that the elections board “properly removed this action” from state court to federal court. The board believed that complying with Republican demands in the lawsuit would have violated the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. Because of the role of federal law in the case, a federal judge has jurisdiction to address the GOP’s complaints, Myers ruled.
The Republican National Committee and North Carolina Republican Party filed the suit in state court. The state elections board moved the case to federal court on Oct. 11.
The suit arose from the State Board of Elections revising its Numbered Memo 2021-03, which implements various laws governing absentee ballots.
According to an RNC news release, the revised memo stated that absentee ballots do not need to be returned in sealed container-return envelopes to be counted. This policy directly conflicts with the statutes specifying that they must be returned in sealed container-return envelopes, GOP groups argued.
The RNC said the policy violated North Carolina state law and weakened absentee ballot safeguards.
“This decision by the NCSBE is inconsistent with state law and diminishes protections for absentee ballots,” then-RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said at the time. “We have filed suit to uphold election integrity and ballot safeguards. State law lays out clear requirements, and the NCSBE must follow them — we will continue to fight for election integrity in the Old North State.”
Whatley is now running for North Carolina’s open US Senate seat in 2026.