DOJ Files Lawsuit Against North Carolina Board of Elections for Inaccurate Voter List

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Yesterday, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the State of North Carolina and the NC State Board of Elections for failure to maintain an accurate voter list in violation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

The lawsuit alleges that the State of North Carolina, in violation of HAVA’s mandate and clear Congressional intent, used a state voter registration form that did not require a voter to provide identifying information such as a driver’s license or last four digits of a social security number. Voters were then added to the state’s voter registration roll WITHOUT the required information, and many of these voters remain on the registration rolls without it.

On March 25, President Trump signed Executive Order 14248 entitled “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections” to ensure that elections are being held in compliance with federal laws that guard against illegal voting, unlawful discrimination, and other forms of fraud, error, or suspicion. The election integrity issues raised in this action are a core component of the Federal election laws that Congress has statutorily charged the Attorney General of the United States, through the Civil Rights Division, to enforce.

Sam Hayes, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE), acknowledged the issue, noting that the failure to collect HAVA-required information is well-documented. He expressed commitment to bringing the state into compliance with federal law.

The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Louise Wood Flanagan, follows earlier related litigation, including a 2024 lawsuit by the Republican National Committee and North Carolina Republican Party challenging 225,000 voter registrations linked to the same flawed NC form. In that case there is no conclusive verdict, however the federal HAVA claim was dismissed, but a state constitutional claim is still pending in Wake County Superior Court.

OF NOTE: Over 60,000 NC voters had their ballots challenged by GOP candidate Judge Jefferson Griffin in the Nov 2024 NC State Supreme Court race, due to incomplete information on their registration forms. After a series of recounts and a NC State Supreme Court 4-2 decision, it appeared that Griffin may win.

The court ruled that about 5,000 military and overseas voters who DID NOT meet the ID requirement must prove their identity WITHIN 30 DAYS (instead of 15 days) —known as a “cure process”—or their votes could be invalidated, and put the blame on the NCSBE.

It also affirmed the lower court order that about 200 “never residents” ballots cast by overseas voters registered to vote in North Carolina but who NEVER RESIDED IN THE STATE be DISQUALIFIED—per the NC State Constitution.

However, following an April 15 federal court filing, it was decided most of the ballots coming from roughly 60,000 voters with incomplete registration data, which could include missing driver’s license numbers or social security numbers, should still be counted for that election. Finally, after a federal judge’s ruling on May 5, Democrat Candidate, Justice Allison Riggs, ended up winning by 734 votes out of over 5.5 million ballots cast.

This DOJ lawsuit effectively puts those 60,000 voters registration status, and that of potentially thousands of other voters, in question.

The Civil Rights Division’s Voting Section enforces the civil provisions of federal statutes that protect the integrity of the vote, including the Voting Rights Act, National Voter Registration Act, Help America Vote Act, and the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act.

For more information about voting and elections, see the DOJ website at www.justice.gov/voting.

Bill Bruch

Bill Bruch is the WA State GOP Election Integrity Committee Chairman (5th year), WAGOP Executive Board Member (5th Year), Skagit County GOP Chairman (9th year), Citizen Journalist, Blogger, Business Owner, 2020 WA State House Representative Candidate, Former Council Member, and WA State 2016 and 2024 RNC National Convention Delegate.