Embattled North Carolina election board facing more litigation

(The Center Square) – Embattled in litigation this summer already, North Carolina’s State Board of Elections is now defending against the state Republican Party and the Republican National Committee.

The board is accused of failing to ensure lawful removal from voter rolls those people identified as noncitizens of the United States that registered to vote. One example is potential jurors and clerks of Superior Court communicating information to the state board.

Litigation was filed Thursday in Wake County Superior Court. Defendants are the board as a whole; members in respective capacities to include Chairman Alan Hirsch, Jeff Carmon, Stacy Eggers, Kevin Lewis and Siobhan Millen; and Karen Bell in capacity of executive director.

Two court cases, a congressional investigation and a General Assembly oversight inquiry pockmarked July for the board . Originally denying three petitions for party recognition, the state board ultimately approved two and was court-ordered to approve the third.

"Ensuring that if someone is selected to serve on a jury and that person indicates they are a noncitizen, the information must go to elections boards, so they are not eligible to vote,” said Matt Mercer, director of communications for the North Carolina Republic Party. “There is no reason not to be using this safeguard as required by SB747."

Speaking for the board, Communications Director Pat Gannon wrote in an email to The Center Square, “Assertions in the lawsuit that the State Board is refusing to comply with Section 44 of Session Law 2023-140 are categorically false. State Board staff have worked diligently with the clerks of Superior Court across North Carolina since that provision became law last month.”

He said the state board is complying as it can while also managing a federal law that “forbids the state from outright removing registrants from the rolls based on statewide processes if the process cannot be completed within 90 days before a federal election, which was August 7.”

Gannon said Republican legislative staff have been briefed on compliance plans, going back to last November. He said no agency records requests were denied.

“The agency responds to these numerous requests as it is able to do so,” Gannon said. “Plaintiffs are required to follow up and attempt to resolve their request for records before they sue a state agency. To our knowledge, there was no attempt to follow up on this request.”

Michael Whatley, the chairman of the Republican National Committee and former chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, said in a release, “Only Americans should vote in American elections. If someone claims non-citizenship, they must be taken off the voter rolls – that's the law."

He went on to say the board of elections "has chosen to blatantly ignore the law, undermine basic election safeguards, and neglect a fundamental principle of our election integrity."

"The RNC and NCGOP defended this law in court, and now we will make sure the NCSBE follows and enforces these critical safeguards in The Old North State," Whatley added.

Senate Bill 747 was also known as Elections Law Changes and took effect Jan. 1.

Filed in June by Republican Sens. Warren Daniel of Burke County, Paul Newton of Cabarrus County, Ralph Hise of Mitchell County, Kevin Corbin of Macon County, Carl Ford of Rowan County and Todd Johnson of Union County, the legislation overcame Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto with no Democrats for it and no Republicans against in either General Assembly chamber.

The law placed North Carolina with 30 other states requiring all absentee ballots to be in election board offices by Election Day. Additionally, it outlaws private money to administer elections.

The legislation also strengthens the rights of poll observers; starts a pilot program in some counties to use signature verification software for absentee ballots; improves voter registration roll maintenance techniques; and closes a same-day registration loophole.