Federal judge blocks voting changes in Republican-crafted NC election law
A federal judge has temporarily blocked portions of a new Republican-crafted elections law from taking effect.
Siding with the North Carolina Democratic Party, Judge Thomas Schroeder halted changes to same-day voter registration that plaintiffs argued might lead to votes being unfairly thrown out.
Though Republicans can still appeal the decision, Schroeder’s order Sunday likely means that the changes will not be in effect for the primary election in March. Same-day registration takes place during in-person early voting, which this year runs from Feb. 15 to March 2.
In a joint statement Monday afternoon, House Speaker Tim Moore and Rep. Grey Mills said that the court’s order only impacted a small portion of the new election law, Senate Bill 747.
“The vast majority of Senate Bill 747 is still in effect including increased poll observer access, bans on special interest money funding election offices, and making election day the last day to receive absentee ballots,” the statement said. “The court order requires relatively minor changes to one small part of the bill, and we are working with our attorneys and the State Board of Elections to ensure that the entire bill is in effect before the primary and general elections this year. We will never stop fighting for election integrity on behalf of North Carolina’s voters.”
Republicans overrode Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto in October to enact SB 747.
The section Schroeder blocked changed the notice process for voters who use same-day registration. Instead of getting up to two notices sent to their listed address to verify their registration, voters would have received only one.
If that notice came back undeliverable, the voter’s registration would be canceled and their ballot thrown out — without a chance to contest the decision.
Plaintiffs, which also include the Democratic National Committee and a variety of progressive groups, showed evidence that verification cards in the 2022 election had been returned undeliverable solely due to governmental errors, without the voter being aware of it.
Schroeder, a nominee of Republican former President George W. Bush, wrote that voters using same-day registration under the new law “face a non-trivial risk of being erroneously disenfranchised by failing address verification due to governmental error, rather than factors related to their eligibility to vote, without any notice and opportunity to be heard.”
His injunction directs the State Board of Elections to implement a procedure for voters using same-day registration to be notified and heard if their ballot is canceled.
At a hearing on the case last month, Schroeder gave each side seven days to try to come to a resolution without a court order — but they reported that they had failed to do so.
This story was originally published January 22, 2024 at 9:43 AM.
