Trump-Appointed Judge Sides Against RNC in Voter Roll Cleanup, Keeps 225,000 Potentially Ineligible Voters on North Carolina Rolls Amid Alleged Election Law Violations
A federal judge has partially dismissed the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) attempt to challenge the eligibility of 225,000 North Carolina voters.
The lawsuit, spearheaded by the RNC and North Carolina Republican Party, accused the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) of failing to comply with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).
The suit centers on claims that the NCSBE allowed over 225,000 people to register but failed to collect legally required identification information from applicants, such as driver’s license numbers or Social Security digits, on registration forms before processing.
According to the plaintiffs, this oversight could lead to ineligible individuals, including non-citizens, appearing on the voter rolls, potentially diluting lawful votes and undermining public trust.
The complaint states:
“The North Carolina State Board of Elections (“NCSBE”) betrayed that trust when it allowed over 225,000 people to register to vote with registration forms that failed to collect certain required identification information before the registration forms were processed, a plain violation of Section 303 of the Help America Vote Act (“HAVA”).
Because of these errors, the North Carolina voter rolls, which both HAVA and state law mandates that Defendants regularly maintain, are potentially replete with ineligible voters—including possible non-citizens—all of whom are now registered to vote.”
The RNC and NCGOP assert that NCSBE admitted its voter registration form failed to meet HAVA’s requirements.
While NCSBE updated its registration forms to meet HAVA’s requirements, it declined the RNC’s demand to retroactively enforce these requirements on previously accepted registrations.
“Defendants admit they violated HAVA and, as a result, state law. Yet, even when concerned citizens brought these issues to their attention, Defendants inexplicably refused to correct their wrongs.
All Defendants offer as a solution is a half-hearted promise that those who were ineligible to register but were allowed to anyway will naturally filter themselves out from the state’s voter rolls when they conduct other election-related activities.”
Last week, Trump-appointed Judge Richard E. Meyers dismissed Count One of the RNC’s claims on grounds that it failed to establish a “private right of action” under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), meaning that individuals or groups like the RNC cannot bring a federal lawsuit based solely on perceived noncompliance with HAVA requirements.
The judge emphasized that only state and federal authorities, not private parties, have the power to enforce these regulations directly.
However, the court has decided not to dismiss the case in its entirety. The remaining state-based claims were remanded to the North Carolina courts, which may still rule on whether state law, specifically North Carolina General Statute § 163-82.11(c), obligates the NCSBE to identify and rectify errors in the voter registration list.
Any further actions concerning these voter registrations would now depend on the decisions of North Carolina’s state courts, not the federal court.
Read the ruling below:
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