- A federal judge has scheduled an Oct. 17 hearing in state and national Republican groups' lawsuit challenging 225,000 voter registrations in North Carolina.
- US Chief District Judge Richard Myers will consider the State Board of Elections' motion to have the lawsuit dismissed.
- Republican groups argue that state election officials violated federal law by failing to record a driver's license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number for thousands of registered voters.
A federal judge has scheduled an Oct. 17 hearing in state and national Republican groups’ lawsuit challenging the way North Carolina elections officials handled registrations of 225,000 voters.
The hearing will address the State Board of Elections’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
US Chief District Judge Richard Myers issued an order Tuesday granting the state board’s request to expedite consideration of its motion. On Monday, Myers rejected a request from the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP and two individual voters to intervene in the case. The Democratic National Committee already has intervened.
Myers’ order Tuesday set an Oct. 7 deadline for the Republican National Committee, North Carolina Republican Party, and DNC to respond to the state elections board’s dismissal motion. The elections board can reply by Oct. 11. The hearing is scheduled six days later in Wilmington.
The Republican groups argue that election officials failed to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act.
“Defendant’s alleged noncompliance with HAVA has resulted in ‘NCSBE accept[ing] hundreds of thousands of voter registration applications without applying the HAVA identifying information requirement,’” Myers wrote. “Plaintiffs seek a court order that Defendants remedy their prior noncompliance with HAVA, including by either removing any ineligible voters from voter registration lists or by requiring registered voters who did not provide HAVA identification information at the time of their application to cast a provisional ballot.”
The State Board of Elections filed a memorandum on Monday reminding the court that voting for the fall election officially began on Sept. 20 when election officials started mailing absentee ballots.
“Amid this ongoing voting, the Republican National Committee and North Carolina Republican Party ask this Court to order the State Board to remove en masse hundreds of thousands of voters from North Carolina’s voter rolls,” state Justice Department lawyers representing the elections board wrote. “Plaintiffs allege that these voters registered using an erroneous voter registration form that, contrary to the demands of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (‘HAVA’), did not clearly require registrants to provide their driver’s license or social security number. Plaintiffs contend that unless the State Board removes these voters now — in the middle of a general election — illegal voting will proliferate and the results of the State’s election will be cast into doubt. This Court should forcefully reject Plaintiffs’ allegations and dismiss this suit in its entirety.”
The state elections board filed paperwork on Sept. 23 moving the case from state court to federal court.
“The complaint purports to allege violations of the Help America Vote Act,” according to the notice of removal filed by NC Justice Department lawyers Monday. “Because Plaintiffs bring claims arising under the laws of the United States, this Court has original jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ claims.”
“The complaint further alleges that Defendants have refused to take certain actions,” the court filing continued. “To the extent Defendants have indeed refused to take certain actions, their refusal was based on their obligation to comply with” two federal laws.
Republican plaintiffs are seeking relief that would force the state elections board to take action inconsistent with federal law, so “removal is proper,” state Justice Department lawyers wrote.
The Democratic National Committee has intervened as a defendant in the case. The DNC has consented to moving the case to federal court, according to the state board’s filing.
The Republican National Committee and state Republican Party have filed at least four lawsuits against the State Board of Elections since Aug. 22. The other cases remain in state court.
The voter registration lawsuit filed in August argues 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 formerly used a voter registration form 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.
Before December 2023, NCSBE used voter registration forms that failed to collect this required information. Specifically, NCSBE collected, processed, and accepted voter registration applications that lacked both the driver’s license and Social Security numbers because NCSBE’s form did not tell the voter the information was required.
The RNC and NCGOP said the 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.”