The North Carolina House Oversight Committee spent four hours on Tuesday investigating the functions of the State Board of Elections amid concerns outside powers could be influencing the approval of new third parties.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections has faced criticism since it denied certifying the We the People Party and the Justice for All Party as official political parties. Both groups exceeded the required number of petition signatures, though the board rejected certification on the basis of potential fraud. 

After a delay, the board voted 4-1 to approve the We The People Party as a political party in North Carolina last week, enabling Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to obtain ballot access in the November general election. However, the Democrat board members maintained their refusal to certify the Justice for All Party, which aims to place Cornel West on the ballot, on a party line vote.

On Tuesday, Justice for All leaders filed a federal lawsuit against North Carolina’s State Board of Elections and its director, challenging the July 16 decision to reject JFA as a new political party in North Carolina. 

SEE ALSO: Justice for All Party files lawsuit against NC elections board over ballot access

During the meeting, state legislators examined the challenges faced by third parties in gaining ballot access despite achieving the appropriate number of signatures. 

Dr. Andy Jackson, Director of the Civitas Center for Public Integrity at the John Locke Foundation, attended the meeting and explained that to be recognized as an official party in North Carolina, new parties must submit petitions with 13,865 valid signatures, followed by approval from the board.

But still, no approval has been given for Justice for All. 

“Those actions by the board were entirely predictable based on the board’s partisan nature,” explained Jackson. “Democrats have raised an army of lawyers to thwart the rise of third parties that they believe might cost President Biden, now presumed candidate Kamala Harris, votes in November.”

Clear Choice Action, a left-leaning super PAC backed by the Elias Law Group and the North Carolina Democrat Party, has sent letters to the NCSBE potentially influencing their decision on who to include on the ballot in 2024. Rep. Jake Johnson, R-Henderson, questioned the board’s ability to make impartial decisions when faced with outside pressure and called for transparency in the decision-making process. 

“I think there’s an inherent problem with groups with a vested interest trying to weigh in on who their opponents will get to be in November and trying to sway board members,” said Johnson. “I certainly hope that our board members have stood their ground, despite these letters and outside groups trying to weigh in, and made the decision that they thought was best for the reasons they claimed they thought they were best.”

Chairman Alan Hirsch and Director Karen Brinson-Bell testified remotely and answered many questions from the committee. Hirsch assured the committee that no outside influence has impacted the board’s decisions. He said denying Justice for All certification stems from irregularities with the signatures submitted by the Justice for All party. The board issued a subpoena to the party to get more information, but the party did not comply. A survey sample of the signatures also found that a significant portion of people either did not recall signing the petition or said they were not informed of the petition’s purpose, which raised further concerns about the validity of the signatures.

In his testimony, Hirsch made several references to the We the People Party, as simply the “Kennedy party.”

“… which tells me that you are very much aware of who stands to gain and who stands to lose,” said Rep. Allen Chesser, R-Nash. “Our prerogative on this body is to make sure that the people’s voices are heard, not political voices.”

Chesser called the Board of Elections process “somewhat jaded and unduly influenced” and urged for a fair and evenly applied process moving forward.

In a post to X, Bo Hines, a former candidate in the 6th District, announced that he filed a bar complaint against the three Democrat board members and the general counsel.