Fair Election Fund (FEF), a nonpartisan national election-integrity watchdog recently came out with a report that gave the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) a grade of “C” for multiple failures undermining voter confidence with administering the 2024 election, including the initial blocking of Justice for All Party candidate Dr. Cornel West.

The May 2 report preceded the swearing-in of a Republican controlled State Board of Elections on Wednesday.

The report focused on the initial blocking in June of the Justice For All Party candidate from appearing on the ballot in the November general election.

NCSBE also blocked the We the People Party — and its former nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now the US Secretary of Health and Human Services — as well as the Constitution Party.

The board continued to reject West’s party at the same July 16 meeting when it voted, 4-1, to approve ballot access for the We the People Party.

FEF said the NCSBE doesn’t have the power of discretion in that type of decision, which a federal judge eventually overturned in August.

The board’s continued rejection also cost them and the state money.

In January, NCSBE asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit filed last year to secure the Justice for All Party’s place on the 2024 election ballot. Dismissal could help the state avoid paying a $77,000 bill for lawyers’ fees.

The case was put on hold while the parties waited for a US Supreme Court decision in a different case.

Other findings in the FEF report included:

Several candidates, including Judge Jefferson Griffin, filed a consolidated election protest with the NCSBE that included thousands of allegedly invalid ballots, which the board ultimately dismissed and ignored. Examples include:

  • 60,273 ballots cast by registered voters whose voter registration database records contained neither a driver’s license number nor the last four digits of a Social Security number
  • 266 ballots cast by overseas citizens who have not resided in North Carolina but whose parents or legal guardians were eligible North Carolina voters before leaving the United States
  • 240 ballots cast by voters who were serving a felony sentence as of Election Day
  • 156 ballots cast by voters who were deceased on Election Day
  • 572 ballots cast by voters whose registration was denied or removed
  • The complain claimed the board also failed to collect legally required information, like driver’s licenses or Social Security numbers, from more than 225,000 voters.

On May 1, North Carolina State Auditor Dave Boliek announced his appointments to the Board of Elections after the April 30 ruling, in which the North Carolina Court of Appeals blocked a lower court ruling favoring Gov. Josh Stein in his legal battle with state legislative leaders and Boliek over elections board appointments.

Stein is a Democrat. Boliek and legislative leaders are Republicans.

The order came from a unanimous, unnamed three-judge Appeals Court panel.

A provision in Senate Bill 382, which became law in December, allows the state auditor to make new elections board appointments and assume administrative oversight of the board.

The law requires the state auditor to appoint members from lists of nominees provided by the state party chair of the two political parties with the highest number of registered affiliates.

Francis X. De Luca of Wilmington, Robert Anthony Rucho of Catawba County, and Stacy Clyde “Four” Eggers IV of Boone were all nominated by Jason Simmons, chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party.

At Wednesday’s board meeting, De Luca was chosen as the new chair, Eggers as the new secretary, and Sam Hayes as the new executive director.

De Luca replaces Democrat Alan Hirsch, and Eggers replaces current Democratic board member Jeff Carmon as secretary.

Hayes is currently the general counsel for North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell. His two-year term begins on May 15.

The analysis on the NCSBE is the second in a series of battleground state election administration bodies that FEF is evaluating. In April, it launched its first report card, grading Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson a “D” for failing to build confidence among voters.

In August of 2024, the watchdog group also uncovered 60,000 potential cases of donor fraud involving the Biden-Harris campaign and ActBlue, and turned over the data to Republican attorneys general across the country.