State elections board moves GOP voter registration suit to federal court

Lawyers for the North Carolina State Board of Elections have moved a Republican lawsuit over the state’s voter registration practices from state court to federal court. The suit challenged the process used to register 225,000 voters statewide.

The case now sits with US District Judge Terrence Boyle.

“The complaint purports to allege violations of the Help America Vote Act,” according to the notice of removal filed by NC Justice Department lawyers Monday. “Because Plaintiffs bring claims arising under the laws of the United States, this Court has original jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ claims.”

“The complaint further alleges that Defendants have refused to take certain actions,” the court filing continued. “To the extent Defendants have indeed refused to take certain actions, their refusal was based on their obligation to comply with” two federal laws.

Republican plaintiffs are seeking relief that would force the state elections board to take action inconsistent with federal law, so “removal is proper,” state Justice Department lawyers wrote.

The Democratic National Committee has intervened as a defendant in the case. The DNC has consented to moving the case to federal court, according to the state board’s filing.

The Republican National Committee and state Republican Party have filed at least four lawsuits against the State Board of Elections in in the past month. The other cases remain in state court.

The voter registration lawsuit filed in August argues that the elections board failed to require identification from prospective voters to prove citizenship. GOP groups argued that by violating the Help America Vote Act and not checking the identification of approximately 225,000 voters, the agency opened the door for noncitizens to vote. 

According to the suit, the NCSBE formerly used a voter registration form that failed to require HAVA-required identification information, such as a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number. 

Before December 2023, NCSBE used voter registration forms that failed to collect this required information. Specifically, NCSBE collected, processed, and accepted voter registration applications that lacked both the driver’s license and Social Security numbers because NCSBE’s form did not tell the voter the information was required.

The lawsuit argues that the state board’s noncompliance with HAVA was first raised when a concerned citizen, Carol Snow, filed a complaint on Oct. 6, 2023.

Snow alleged that NCSBE’s voter registration form, which was still in use at the time of her filing, failed to indicate that “the applicant’s qualifying identification of the applicant’s driver’s license number or last four digits of the applicant’s social security number, is required if one or the other have been issued to the applicant.”

At its meeting on Nov. 28, 2023, NCSBE considered Snow’s complaint. At the meeting, and in its Dec. 6, 2023, order, NCSBE acknowledged that its voter registration forms did not sufficiently notify applicants that their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number were required for their registration to be processed and accepted.

NCSBE further acknowledged using the voter registration form, which failed to comply with HAVA, for approximately 225,000 voters throughout North Carolina. The board granted Snow’s request to change the voter registration form moving forward. It denied Snow’s request to identify and contact voters whose registrations were improperly accepted.

Snow filed a new complaint earlier this year charging that the verification process of registrants’ driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers didn’t go far enough.

The board voted 4-1 against the complaint.

The RNC and NCGOP said the board “has refused to take remedial action and did not reach out to these voters to collect the required information. The agency has offered a half-hearted promise to North Carolinians that those ineligible to register, but were allowed to anyways, will naturally filter themselves out.”

Elections board spokesman Patrick Gannon told Carolina Journal in an emailed statement that the lawsuit asked for an impossible solution, adding that despite being aware of their alleged claims months ago, the plaintiffs waited until two weeks before the start of voting to seek a court-ordered program to remove thousands of existing registered voters.

“Federal law itself prevents such removal programs if they take place after the 90th day before a federal election, which was August 7,” he told CJ. “So, the lawsuit is asking for a rapid-fire voter removal program that violates federal law.” 

Gannon also said that the lawsuit also misunderstands the data and vastly overstates any alleged problems with voter registrations.

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