The North Carolina Board of Elections is facing a lawsuit over allowing thousands of people in the state to register to vote without proper identification.
The Republican National Committee and the North Carolina Republican Party jointly filed the lawsuit, arguing that the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) “is opening the door for non-citizens to vote” through its actions.
The NCSBE purportedly violated the 2002 Help America Vote Act by allowing about 225,000 people to register without requiring a driver’s license, a Social Security number, or another form of valid identification, according to the lawsuit.
“The NCSBE has once again failed in its mandate to keep non-citizens off the voter rolls, fueling distrust and jeopardizing our elections,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley said in a statement.
“We are committed to the basic principle – and commonsense law – that only Americans decide American elections. Deliberately failing to follow the law, right before our country’s most important election, is inexcusable. We will fight every day to ensure that NCSBE follows the law, cleans the voter rolls, and protects the vote for North Carolinians,” he added.
The RNC is working around the clock to build an unprecedented nationwide operation to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat!#ProtectTheVote https://t.co/ThWu0xnviC
— Michael Whatley (@ChairmanWhatley) August 19, 2024
NCGOP Director of Communications Matt Mercer said the Board of Elections “has a statutory duty to ensure only verified citizens can vote in North Carolina elections.”
“Their refusal to take these steps and subsequent dismissal of legitimate concerns undermines election integrity and confidence in elections administration,” Mercer told The Daily Tar Heel.
Hans von Spakovsky, the manager of the Heritage Foundation’s Election Law Reform Initiative, told the outlet that he agrees with the goals of the lawsuit and that states need to comply with the Help America Vote Act to ensure election integrity.
“There’s no reason to fight this lawsuit,” he said. “They ought to just agree to take whatever steps are necessary to remedy this, and that would simply mean them taking the over 200,000 people who registered without them verifying the registrations and doing that.”
Republicans have filed lawsuits in other battleground states ahead of November’s election, addressing many issues with voter rolls.
Excellent election integrity news.
24 Attorneys General from across the country have filed a brief supporting the RNC’s Supreme Court fight to stop non-citizens from voting.
Republicans are working together like never before to defend election integrity. pic.twitter.com/AuBfJjdXGc
— Michael Whatley (@ChairmanWhatley) August 16, 2024
However, the Democratic National Committee filed a motion to intervene in the North Carolina lawsuit last week.
“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,” the Democratic attorneys wrote. “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.”
Ann Webb, the policy director for Common Cause NC claimed the GOP lawsuit is “part of a larger effort to spread disinformation about non-citizens being registered to vote,” according to The Daily Tar Heel.
“This is absolutely part of a national trend to use fear of non-citizen voting and anti-immigrant sentiment in particular to undermine trust in this election,” Webb said. “That is harmful to our democracy, and it’s harmful to the immigrant communities that bring vibrancy and economic contributions to our state.”
NCGOP Chairman Jason Simmons said the Board “continually has problems ensuring voter rolls only have verified citizens.”
“This lawsuit will remedy their ongoing refusal to collect the required information from those who want to take part in North Carolina elections. Accountability and fidelity to following the rule of law is long overdue for the most partisan Elections Board in state history,” Simmons added.
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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