Latest news with #StateBoardOfElections
Washington Post
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
North Carolina to send mailers to some 200,000 voters asking for missing registration info
RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina election officials will send mailers to some 200,000 voters asking them to provide information missing from their state registration records, seeking to address a Republican concern raised during a protracted legal fight over a state Supreme Court seat and a recent U.S. Justice Department lawsuit . The North Carolina State Board of Elections voted unanimously Tuesday to begin contacting voters whose records lack a driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. Last month, the Justice Department sued state election officials, alleging the board had violated federal law by failing to collect the identifying information. The lawsuit was noteworthy because it was filed just weeks after Republicans wrested control of the state elections board away from the state's Democratic governor after years of failed attempts and gave the power of board appointments to the state auditor, a Republican. The law was passed late last year, before Republicans lost their supermajority in the Legislature, which they used to override the governor's veto. The Justice Department sought to force the state board to create a prompt method to obtain the identifying information. Sam Hayes, the board's new executive director, told board members on Tuesday that the department had 'tentatively signed off' on the plan, which involves sending up to three mailers to voters that will include a self-addressed, postage-prepaid return envelope with a form for collecting the information. 'The goal here is to obtain that information as efficiently as possible and satisfy the outstanding litigation here and, of course, comport with federal law,' Hayes said. The previous state board had acknowledged the issue and updated the registration form to make it clear that either a driver's license number or, if a voter didn't have a driver's license, the last four digits of a Social Security number were required. But it decided it was not going to ask voters to provide the information, pointing to the state's voter ID law which confirms a voter's identity. About half of the 200,000 affected voters would be limited to casting provisional ballots until they provide the information to the state, Hayes said. The first two mailers combined could cost between $300,000 and $450,000, according to preliminary estimates. Jeff Carmon, one of two Democrats on the five-member board, said he would support the proposal despite concerns the board was requiring voters to act to ensure they can continue to vote. 'It's hard to understand starvation if you've never felt the pangs of hunger,' Carmon said. 'It's the same situation with voting obstacles. Your perspective of an obstacle may not be the same as someone who's consistently had their identity and their validity questioned.' Republicans on the board said the actions were needed to ensure the state's voter lists were accurate and that the request of voters was reasonable to comply with federal law. Also Tuesday, the state's 100 county election boards were reconstituted under the same law passed by GOP lawmakers that changed the appointment process for the state board. The state board, as required previously, appointed four of the five members for each county board with an even split between the two major political parties. But instead of the Democratic governor appointing the fifth person, who serves as chair, State Auditor Dave Boliek made the chair selections Tuesday. Like the state board, the appointment changes were expected to give Republicans 3-2 majorities on county boards as well. __ Cassidy reported from Atlanta.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
North Carolina to send mailers to some 200,000 voters asking for missing registration info
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina election officials will send mailers to some 200,000 voters asking them to provide information missing from their state registration records, seeking to address a Republican concern raised during a protracted legal fight over a state Supreme Court seat and a recent U.S. Justice Department lawsuit. The North Carolina State Board of Elections voted unanimously Tuesday to begin contacting voters whose records lack a driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. Last month, the Justice Department sued state election officials, alleging the board had violated federal law by failing to collect the identifying information. The lawsuit was noteworthy because it was filed just weeks after Republicans wrested control of the state elections board away from the state's Democratic governor after years of failed attempts and gave the power of board appointments to the state auditor, a Republican. The law was passed late last year, before Republicans lost their supermajority in the Legislature, which they used to override the governor's veto. The Justice Department sought to force the state board to create a prompt method to obtain the identifying information. Sam Hayes, the board's new executive director, told board members on Tuesday that the department had 'tentatively signed off' on the plan, which involves sending up to three mailers to voters that will include a self-addressed, postage-prepaid return envelope with a form for collecting the information. 'The goal here is to obtain that information as efficiently as possible and satisfy the outstanding litigation here and, of course, comport with federal law,' Hayes said. The previous state board had acknowledged the issue and updated the registration form to make it clear that either a driver's license number or, if a voter didn't have a driver's license, the last four digits of a Social Security number were required. But it decided it was not going to ask voters to provide the information, pointing to the state's voter ID law which confirms a voter's identity. About half of the 200,000 affected voters would be limited to casting provisional ballots until they provide the information to the state, Hayes said. The first two mailers combined could cost between $300,000 and $450,000, according to preliminary estimates. Jeff Carmon, one of two Democrats on the five-member board, said he would support the proposal despite concerns the board was requiring voters to act to ensure they can continue to vote. 'It's hard to understand starvation if you've never felt the pangs of hunger,' Carmon said. 'It's the same situation with voting obstacles. Your perspective of an obstacle may not be the same as someone who's consistently had their identity and their validity questioned.' Republicans on the board said the actions were needed to ensure the state's voter lists were accurate and that the request of voters was reasonable to comply with federal law. Also Tuesday, the state's 100 county election boards were reconstituted under the same law passed by GOP lawmakers that changed the appointment process for the state board. The state board, as required previously, appointed four of the five members for each county board with an even split between the two major political parties. But instead of the Democratic governor appointing the fifth person, who serves as chair, State Auditor Dave Boliek made the chair selections Tuesday. Like the state board, the appointment changes were expected to give Republicans 3-2 majorities on county boards as well. __ Cassidy reported from Atlanta.
Washington Post
5 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
North Carolina Green Party retains official status despite failing vote thresholds
RALEIGH, N.C. — The Green Party will remain an official party in North Carolina, able to field candidates statewide through the 2028 elections, even though their 2024 nominees for governor and president failed to get the votes required by state law. The Republican-led State Board of Elections voted 3-2 on Thursday to continue recognizing the North Carolina Green Party, potentially affecting close contests for president, U.S. Senate and governor or other statewide and local offices.
Associated Press
5 days ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
North Carolina Green Party retains official status despite failing vote thresholds
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Green Party will remain an official party in North Carolina, able to field candidates statewide through the 2028 elections, even though their 2024 nominees for governor and president failed to get the votes required by state law. The Republican-led State Board of Elections voted 3-2 on Thursday to continue recognizing the North Carolina Green Party, potentially affecting close contests for president, U.S. Senate and governor or other statewide and local offices. Without Thursday's action, the party would have joined four other small parties who also failed to reach the vote thresholds necessary and are thus no longer recognized — the Constitution, Justice for All, No Labels and We the People parties. None of their candidates received at least 2% of the total vote for governor or president to remain an official party. That means voters who are registered with those four parties are moved to unaffiliated status on voter rolls starting next week. Those groups also would have to collect about 14,000 signatures to regain official party status — an effort that takes time and money. But the North Carolina Green Party petitioned the board this spring to apply another standard. State law also says a group of voters can become a political party if they 'had a candidate nominated by that group on the general election ballot' in at least 35 states in the prior presidential election. The group presented a Federal Election Commission document showing Jill Stein, the Green Party nominee, appeared on the November 2024 ballot in 38 states. In seven states, however, she was not the nominee of the party or of a Green Party affiliate, according to the commission document. For example, she was an independent candidate in three of the seven. Democratic board member Jeff Carmon said he wasn't convinced the standard was met because Stein failed to be nominated in 35 states by the Green Party or an affiliate. Republican members decided otherwise. Although Stein may have been listed as the nominee for a different party or as independent, she was the national Green Party candidate, board Chairman Francis De Luca said. The three Republican members agreed that the North Carolina Green Party could remain an official party. The two Democrats voted no. The board shifted from a Democratic majority to a Republican majority last month after a 2024 state law took appointment authority away from the governor and to the state auditor. With Thursday's action, there will be four recognized political parties in North Carolina — Democratic, Republican, Libertarian and Green. As of last week, the largest bloc of North Carolina's 7.53 million registered voters are unaffiliated, at 2.85 million. About 4,000 voters are registered with the Green Party.
Fox News
28-05-2025
- General
- Fox News
DOJ sues North Carolina over voter rolls
The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the State of North Carolina and the North Carolina State Board of Elections on Tuesday for allegedly failing to maintain an accurate voter list. The Trump administration claims the Tar Heel State is in violation of the 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA) after board officials provided a statewide voter registration form that did not make clear whether an applicant must provide a driver's license number, or if the applicant does not have a driver's license, the last four digits of the applicant's social security number. If an applicant has neither, the law says the state must assign a special identifying number. The lawsuit says, "a significant number of North Carolina voters who did not provide a driver's license number or the last four digits of a social security number using that voter registration form were nonetheless registered by their election officials, in violation of HAVA" and the defendants "only took limited actions to prevent further violations." "Upon information and belief there currently are a significant number of voters that do not have a driver's license number, last four digits of a social security number, or any other identifying number, as required by Section 303 of HAVA, listed in North Carolina's state voter registration file," according to the filing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. "Those violations will continue absent relief from this Court." "Accurate voter registration rolls are critical to ensure that elections in North Carolina are conducted fairly, accurately, and without fraud," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said in a statement. "The Department of Justice will not hesitate to file suit against jurisdictions that maintain inaccurate voter registration rolls in violation of federal voting laws." A previous edition of the state elections board, in which Democrats held a majority, acknowledged the problem in late 2023 after a voter complained. The board updated the voter registration form but declined to contact people who had registered to vote since 2004 in time for the 2024 elections so they could fill in the missing numbers. According to the lawsuit, the board indicated that such information would be accumulated on an ad hoc basis as voters appeared at polling places. It is unclear exactly how many voters' records still lack identifying numbers. Lawyers from the DOJ Civil Rights Division want a judge to give the state 30 days to develop a plan to contact voters with records that do not comply with federal law, obtain an identifying number for each and add that to the electronic list. The state and national GOP last year sued over the lack of identifying numbers, which they estimated could have affected 225,000 registrants. However, federal judges declined to make changes so close to the general election. The lawsuit also referred to President Donald Trump's executive order on elections in March to "guard against illegal voting, unlawful discrimination, and other forms of fraud, error, or suspicion." After Election Day, formal protests were filed by Jefferson Griffin, a Republican candidate for a seat on the state Supreme Court, who challenged about 65,500 ballots. He contended that about 60,000 were cast by registrants whose records failed to contain one of the two identifying numbers. The state election board said earlier this year at least roughly half of those voters actually did provide an identifying number. Griffin also challenged another 5,500 ballots belonging to overseas military personnel and their family members who were not required to attach a copy of their photo IDs, as well those in a category of "Never Residents," or U.S. citizens with family ties to North Carolina who have never lived in the United States. A state appeals court criticized the board's handling of the registration records but ultimately ruled the challenged ballots had to remain in the final election tally. Six months passed during what amounted to be the nation's last contested 2024 election. Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs was ultimately certified as the winner over Griffin by 734 votes out of over 5.5 million ballots cast. Griffin conceded earlier this month but said he did not fully agree with the court's analysis. This month, the state election board's composition changed to reflect a 2024 law approved by the GOP-dominated General Assembly that shifted the board's appointment powers from the now-Democratic governor to Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek. A previous 3-2 Democratic majority is now a 3-2 Republican majority. The new iteration of the board sounds open to embracing the Justice Department's wishes. Executive Director Sam Hayes said late Tuesday the lawsuit was being reviewed, "but the failure to collect the information required by HAVA has been well documented." "Rest assured that I am committed to bringing North Carolina into compliance with federal law," he said, according to The Associated Press. Local elections start in September.
