Federal Judge Dismisses Part of RNC Lawsuit To Disqualify 225K North Carolina Voters
A federal judge tossed out part of the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) legal bid to remove up to 225,000 North Carolinians from the state’s voter rolls based on allegations of faulty voter registrations.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC), which got involved in the litigation, referred to the RNC’s suit as a request for “mass disenfranchisement” and an attempt to “sow doubt about the integrity of North Carolina’s elections.”
The RNC has filed five lawsuits in North Carolina this cycle.
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Today, Trump-appointed Judge Richard E. Meyers dismissed the GOP plaintiffs’ claim under a federal law known as the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), but sent a separate state constitutional claim back down to a North Carolina court. The order noted that the case will return to state court on Oct. 22 barring an appeal of today’s ruling by the RNC and North Carolina GOP.
Ahead of the Nov. 5 general election, the presidential race has quickly become more competitive in the Tar Heel State, prompting the RNC to focus more of its legal efforts there.
In an Aug. 23 complaint, the RNC and state Republican Party alleged the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) unlawfully registered large sums of “ineligible” voters — “including possible non-citizens” — prior to December 2023 using a form that failed to collect necessary identification information.
According to the suit, the HAVA requires voter registration applicants to provide either a driver’s license number or the last four digits of their social security number. But Meyers concluded in today’s ruling that private litigants do not have the right to sue under HAVA.
The NCSBE, a named defendant in the case, had said HAVA itself ensures those who don’t provide a driver’s license or social security number on their registration application can still cast a ballot — so long as they provide either a valid form of photo identification, a current utility bill or other authorized document.
Nevertheless, the Republican plaintiffs argued the state board’s failure to obtain this information allowed ineligible voters and potential noncitizens to register. The lawsuit requested that a state court either order the removal of the contested registrants from the state’s voter rolls or alternatively allow them to cast provisional ballots, which are often excluded from vote totals.
Although the RNC originally filed its complaint in state court, the case ended up before a federal court after the NCSBE sought to move the legal proceedings to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Per today’s decision, the case will return to a state court next Tuesday for consideration of the plaintiffs’ remaining claim brought under a clause of the North Carolina Constitution that guarantees the fundamental right to vote.
In countering the RNC’s arguments, both the NCSBE and DNC pointed to a federal law known as the National Voter Registration Act, which expressly prohibits the systematic removal of voters from the rolls within 90 days of an election. Republicans brought the legal action just 74 days before the Nov. 5 general election.
The state and Democratic defendants also noted that North Carolina imposes strict identification requirements for all voters who cast their ballots by mail or in person, which provide further assurance that only eligible individuals can participate in North Carolina’s elections.
Republicans are currently litigating three other high-profile lawsuits in the Tar Heel State that could have implications for the upcoming election. The ongoing suits target rules concerning absentee ballots, alleged noncitizen voting as well as the eligibility of certain military and overseas voters.