Appeals Court Does Not Support Republican Party in North Carolina Voter Registration Case

On Tuesday, a federal appeals court in the United States ruled on a case involving the Republican Party’s challenge to 225,000 voters in North Carolina who were allegedly not legally registered. The decision upheld by the appeals court overturned a previous ruling by a lower federal court that had sent part of the case back to the state court for review. This ruling by the appeals court was seen as unfavorable to the Republican Party’s arguments.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, composed of a panel of three judges, decided that a ruling by Chief District Judge Richard Myers of the Eastern District of North Carolina was “inappropriate.” The judge’s ruling had sent the Republican Party’s claims back to the state court for further review.

Judge Nicole Berner, in the panel’s opinion, stated that the state election board had refused to carry out the actions requested by the plaintiffs – to remove certain registered voters from the voter list in North Carolina. The reason given was that doing so within 90 days of a federal election would violate the provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Berner further wrote, “We do not believe that the defendants acknowledge violation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), but we need not address that issue.” The judge added that the North Carolina Board of Elections argued that the relevant provisions of HAVA “effectively prohibit rather than require them to purge disputed voters.”

The three judges in their ruling stated that based on the reasons mentioned, they overturned the lower court’s decision to send the case back for review and remanded it to that court for further proceedings based on their opinion.

All three judges on the appeals court are considered to be liberal judges and were appointed by Democratic presidents.

The original lawsuit was filed in state court by the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the North Carolina Republican Party (NCGOP), alleging that the North Carolina State Board of Elections violated election laws in the voter registration process, as 225,000 voters were registered without the need for identification such as a driver’s license or social security number. The plaintiffs argued that allowing individuals to register on the voter roll without identification violated the Help America Vote Act.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) intervened in the case along with North Carolina election officials to move the case to federal court, seeking to dismiss two of the Republican Party’s claims. While the federal district court dismissed one claim, it stated it did not have jurisdiction to rule on claims based on the Constitution.

The Republicans who brought the lawsuit believed that these “ineligible” voters should be removed from the voter list or allowed to cast provisional ballots so election officials could verify their eligibility when voting.