NC House Republicans question elections board officials about alternative parties

NC Board of Elections Chairman Alan Hirsch tells a House committee why Democrats on the Board rejected an alternative party. (Photo: NCGA video feed)

State House members questioned Board of Elections Chairman Alan Hirsch over the Board’s party-line vote rejecting a request for recognition as a political party from a group called Justice for All.

Justice for All wants to put Cornel West on the ballot as a presidential candidate. The election board’s 3-2 decision last week not to certify Justice for All as a political party would keep him off the ballot.

Republicans on the House Select Committee on Oversight and Reform criticized the decision not to recognize Justice for All, implying that it was a partisan move intended to keep a progressive candidate off the ballot to help Democrats.

State Democrats and a super PAC aligned with Democrats called Clear Choice Action didn’t want the elections board to certify Justice for All and We the People, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s alternative party. The Elias Law Group, which represents Democrats in North Carolina and nationally in redistricting and elections cases, was one of the firms representing Clear Choice Action.

“Inherently, I think there’s a problem,”  said Rep. Jake Johnson, a Polk County Republican. “There are groups with a vested interest trying to weigh in on who their opponents will be.”

The elections board did certify We the People and the Constitution Party in separate meetings earlier this month after some delay.

Hirsch told the House committee some of the signatures on Justice for All petitions were suspicious. Verified petition signatures from 13,865 registered voters are required for party recognition. Justice for All submitted more signatures than that, but an outside company collected most of them.

“County boards identified signatures that were fraudulent,” Hirsch said. “Staff started a criminal investigation with respect to fraudulent signatures that is ongoing.”

The state Board staff followed up with calls to 250 Justice for All petition signers and reached 49 of them. Eighteen said they didn’t sign the petition and three didn’t remember signing. Six people said they signed the petition, but didn’t know what it was for.

“More than 50% were inappropriate under the law,” Hirsch said. Ideally, staff would have called a few thousand petition signers, but there wasn’t enough time, he said.

Republican committee members criticized the attempt to determine from such a small sample whether there was a significant problem with the 17,141 signatures on Justice for All petitions.

“To take that kind of stretch, statistically, is amazing,” said Rep. George Cleveland, an Onslow County Republican.

Republicans cast a wider net in questioning

Republicans also grilled Elections Director Karen Brinson Bell on voter roll maintenance and voter ID requirements.

Brinson Bell reminded members additional resources and personnel, including a data analyst, would be helpful in meeting legislative requests.

“I don’t need any further pleas for assistance,” responded Cleveland.

Andy Jackson of the conservative John Locke Foundation was invited to testify as an expert.

Jackson recommended ways to avoid problems with signature collection and verification of signatures.

Rep. Maria Cervania, a Wake County Democrat, said she hoped for commonly agreed on solutions, but hoped for testimony that was “non-biased and nonpartisan.”

“Unfortunately, I have to piece through partisan testimony,” she said.

A veteran GOP attorney to represent Justice for All

In the meantime, Justice for All filed a federal lawsuit against the elections board that says the Board’s failure to certify the party despite having submitted more than enough signatures violated voters’ rights.

Phil Strach and two other lawyers at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough are representing the plaintiffs — three voters in Fayetteville. Strach has long been the go-to lawyer for Republican legislators in election and redistricting cases.

Federal campaign finance information shows Republican committees, including the Republican National Committee, the North Carolina Republican Party, the National Republican Congressional Committee, and the super PAC for Republican U.S. senators, have paid Nelson Mullins more than $81,000 since early 2023.

Hirsch and Brinson Bell heard in person the criticisms about failing to approve alternative parties that state and congressional Republicans have been leveling for weeks in press releases, social media posts, and letters.

Bo Hines, a Republican who lost a primary in North Carolina’s sixth congressional district earlier this year, shared on social media Tuesday that he filed a complaint with the North Carolina State Bar against the state Board’s three Democrats and one of the staff lawyers.

In this complaint, Hines claims the members conducted an investigation against the Justice for All Party due to interference from the North Carolina Democratic Party and Clear Choice Action.

The North Carolina State Bar did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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