Theresa Opeka
Carolina Journal
In less than one week, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the North Carolina GOP (NCGOP) are once again suing the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE).
The latest lawsuit states the election board failed to require identification to prove citizenship. The RNC and the NCGOP said that by violating the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), and not checking the identification of approximately 225,000 voters, the agency is opening the door for non-citizens 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.
Prior to 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 goes on to say that only if a registrant affirmatively confirms they do not have either form of identification, the state must “assign the applicant a number which will serve to identify the applicant for voter registration purposes . . . [which] shall be the unique identifying number assigned under the list.” Id. at § 21083(a)(5)(A)(ii).
It further states that the NCSBE’s noncompliance with HAVA was first raised when a concerned citizen, Carol Snow, filed a complaint with NCSBE 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 in order 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. It follows that by failing to comply with HAVA, Defendants admittedly violated their duties under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-82.11(c). Ultimately, Defendants granted Ms. Snow’s request to change the voter registration form moving forward.
But, the board denied Snow’s request to identify and contact voters whose registrations were improperly accepted due to their forms lacking the necessary identification information.
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.”
“The NCSBE has once again failed in its mandate to keep non-citizens off the voter rolls, fueling distrust and jeopardizing our elections,” said RNC Chairman Michael Whatley. “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.”
NCGOP Chairman Jason Simmons added, “This State 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.”
NCSBE spokesman Patrick Gannon told Carolina Journal in an emailed statement that the lawsuit asks for an impossible solution, adding that despite being aware of their alleged claims months ago, the plaintiffs have 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.
“If a voter does not have a driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number populated in the voter registration database, that does not necessarily mean that they were allowed to register improperly,” he said. “Federal law allows voters who lack one of these numbers to nonetheless be registered. State law also allows a registrant whose information fails to exactly match with the DMV or Social Security databases to be verified by showing another type of ID before voting. Such database match problems are well documented, especially with the Social Security Administration.
Gannon points out a common reason is a variation between married and maiden names in different government databases. These voters are also included in the plaintiffs’ alleged figures. And even if voters failed to provide either their driver’s license or the last four digits of their Social Security numbers when they registered, just like voters whose information did not match between databases, those voters would have been required to show another type of ID before voting.
He also stated that many voters registered before the federal law changed in 2005 to require the submission of a driver’s license number and the last four digits of a Social Security number.
“And in any event, all these voters will be asked to show photo ID again when they vote this year,” Gannon added.
The RNC and NCGOP sued the NCSBE last week, claiming that state election officials are ignoring a 2023 state law requiring removal from the voting rolls of noncitizens identified through jury questionnaires.
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