Federal Judge to Consider GOP Lawsuit to Dump 225,000 Voters

By Cash Michaels –

A federal judge in Wilmington is expected to hear arguments on a Republican Party lawsuit seeking to remove 225,000 registered voters from North Carolina’s voting rolls, or at least require that those voters cast provisional ballots.

Both the NC Republican Party and the Republican National Committee allege in the suit filed in August that North Carolina violated the Help America Vote Act, a federal law that mandated that prior to December 2023, voters who registered were not required to give either their state driver’s license of social Security number on the forms.

The GOP claims that the NC State Board of Elections allows non-citizens to register and vote, a charge officials with the NCSBE vigorously deny. They are asking the federal court to dismiss the GOP lawsuit.

However, the Republican plaintiffs are also seeking to have their lawsuit moved back to state court where it was originally filed. They hope the GOP-dominated NC Court of Appeals or state Supreme Court would be likely to hear arguments at some point. Defendants argue that the issues involve federal voting law, thus the case should remain in federal court.

It is not known when the federal court in Wilmington will issue a decision in the case.

This is one of several lawsuits filed by the GOP in North Carolina challenging the election process of qualifying voters and handling ballots.