NCSBE faces 3rd lawsuit over absentee ballot policy

The Republican National Committee (RNC), the North Carolina Republican Party (NCGOP), and a North Carolina voter filed a lawsuit against the North Carolina State Election Board (NCSBE) Tuesday in Wake County Superior Court challenging the NCSBE’s policy they say disregards election integrity laws requiring absentee ballot security envelopes to be sealed in order for the ballot to count.

The NCSBE revised Numbered Memo 2021-03, which implements various laws governing absentee ballots.

According to a press release issued by the RNC, the revised memo states 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.

On May 20, the RNC, NCGOP, and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) requested a Declaratory Ruling from the NCSBE on whether the instruction in Numbered Memo 2021-03 contradicts state law.

The NCSBE voted on July 29 against the trio’s position and issued a written opinion on Aug. 2.

The RNC said in the release the policy violates North Carolina state law and weakens absentee ballot safeguards.

“This decision by the NCSBE is inconsistent with state law and diminishes protections for absentee ballots,” said RNC Chairman Michael Whatley. “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.”

NCGOP Chairman Jason Simmons echoed Whatley’s sentiments.

 “State law is clear in this matter, and it is unfortunate that Director (Karen Brinson) Bell is acting beyond her authority. We will continue to enforce integrity in the elections process and adherence to statutory requirements.”

A spokesperson from the NCSBE sent a copy of the declaratory ruling to CJ indicating the ruling would serve as an official statement from the board.

This is the third lawsuit the RNC and NCGOP brought against the NCSBE in a matter of weeks.

The first one claims that state election officials are ignoring a 2023 state law requiring removal from the voting rolls of noncitizens identified through jury questionnaires.

Five days later, the second lawsuit states the election board failed to require identification to prove citizenship. The RNC and the NCGOP said that by violating the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and not checking the identification of approximately 225,000 voters, the agency is opening the door for noncitizens to vote. 

The Democratic National Committee filed a motion Friday, hoping to intervene in one of Republicans’ recent lawsuits against the North Carolina State Board of Elections. The suit challenges the procedure election officials used to register 225,000 voters.

“They seek to disenfranchise 225,000 North Carolinians not because those voters did anything wrong, but because — according to them — small portions of North Carolina’s approved voter registration form were improperly color-coded,” Democratic lawyers wrote Friday. “Their claims are unsupported by state or federal law, and their request to disenfranchise voters on the eve of an election is expressly prohibited by the National Voter Registration Act.”

On Wednesday, the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP and an individual voter sought to intervene in a lawsuit Republican groups filed against the State Board of Elections. The suit challenges the way elections officials handled registration for 225,000 voters.

The NAACP and voter Jackson Sailor Jones filed a motion to intervene in the case.

“Plaintiffs seek to quickly force Defendants to identify and remove approximately 225,000 North Carolinian voters from the state’s voter registration rolls less than sixty-five days before the 2024 presidential election,” NAACP lawyers wrote. “Plaintiffs’ request, on the eve of the impending General Election, is unprecedented and improper. The action is founded on the unsupported belief that every one of these 225,000 voters is ‘ineligible’ because they allegedly did not include their driver’s license number or Social Security number on their voter registration forms when registering to vote.”