The DNC threatens NCSBE with lawsuit over plan to remove voters from voter rolls

The Democratic National Committee is threatening to take legal action against the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) if it removes 98,000 registered voters from the voter rolls due to missing identification.

On June 24, the board unanimously approved a three-part plan to collect missing identification numbers of 195,000 voters on the voter rolls.

The plan would involve obtaining driver’s license numbers (DL#) or the last four digits of Social Security numbers (SSN4) for registered North Carolina voters who lack either number in their voter records.

The missing information has been a voter registration requirement of the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which took effect in 2004.

The US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state and the NCSBE in May regarding the missing information.

State election officials said they hope the plan will resolve that lawsuit and others and bring the state into compliance with a recent NC Court of Appeals order.

Starting this month, the NCSBE sent mailers to approximately 98,000 registered voters who registered after HAVA became effective in 2004, whose records apparently lack a DL# or SSN4, and who have not otherwise complied with HAVA. These voters will vote provisionally until they provide the information.

A second mailing will go out this summer to approximately 97,000 North Carolina voters who have complied with HAVA but for whom election officials do not have a DL# or SSN4 on the voter’s current registration record. This list includes voters who initially provided a DL# or SSN4 that did not validate but subsequently complied with the law by providing an alternative form of ID (called “HAVA ID”) when voting. These voters will continue to vote with regular ballots.

After the rest of the plan is completed, the state board will send a reminder to those who still need to provide the required information.

Washington, DC, law firm WilmerHale sent a letter on behalf of the DNC to the NCSBE on July 11. They say that the board is violating the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) with its plan to remove approximately 98,000 registrants from the “official list of eligible voters.”

“By requiring voters to cast provisional ballots that may not be counted, the Plan effectively removes registrants from the official list of eligible voters,” the letter continues. “These voters may therefore be prevented from casting effective ballots in local elections held this fall.”

It further states, “Section 8(a)(3) of the NVRA prohibits a state from removing “the name of a registrant . . .from the official list of eligible voters” unless the removal occurs (1) at the registrant’s request, (2)because of a “criminal conviction or mental capacity,” (3) due to the death of the registrant, or (4)based on the registrant’s change in residence.”

Attorney Sam Waxman continued to say that the NCSBE’s plan will “harm the DNC and its members, force the DNC to use funds that would have been spent on voter outreach, and disenfranchise members of the Democratic party who attempt to update registration records during the voting process when they submit driver’s license numbers or partial Social Security numbers that fail to match administrative records.”

Legal action, he states, will be taken if the violations aren’t corrected by Oct. 9.

“The Executive Director’s plan to collect missing registration information from voters was unanimously approved by the State Board of Elections at its June 24 meeting,” Pat Gannon, NCSBE spokesman, said in an emailed statement to Carolina Journal. “We believe that it fully complies with state and federal law, including the National Voter Registration Act, and we expect that it will also receive approval from the United States Department of Justice.”

The remaining parts of the plan will have the 100 county boards of elections reviewing records in the voter registration database, through August, for “active” voters who may have missing ID numbers and correct records where the voter provided the information but was not entered by the county board.

In future elections, in-person voters who lack the required information in the voter-registration database will have to vote with a provisional ballot, which will count as long as the voter provides the required information.

The state board is creating a flag to appear on these voters’ records in the electronic or paper poll books used at voting sites to alert poll workers that these voters must vote provisional ballots and provide the missing information for their ballot to count.

The state Supreme Court race involving Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin and Democratic candidate Allison Riggs also highlighted issues with voter ID, as Griffin contested more than 65,000 ballots from November’s General Election. Griffin finally conceded in May.

A federal trial involving challenges to North Carolina’s congressional and legislative election maps also continues to show the Tar Heel State’s importance in elections.

The trial in Winston-Salem, which started on June 16, should have a final decision sometime in August.

The post The DNC threatens NCSBE with lawsuit over plan to remove voters from voter rolls first appeared on Carolina Journal.

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