Judge rules voters known as ‘never residents’ can’t participate in any NC election
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- A Wake County judge ruled 'never resident' voters are ineligible in any NC election.
- Judge Hoyt Tessener ruled the bipartisan law granting rights was unconstitutional.
- Tessener’s order bans 'never residents' from participating in federal elections in NC.
A Wake County judge ruled on Tuesday that certain overseas voters are ineligible to participate in any North Carolina election, siding with the Republican National Committee in a case that stemmed from 2024’s contested Supreme Court election.
The ruling, written by Superior Court Judge Hoyt Tessener, affects a class of voters that plaintiffs termed “never residents.” They are the adult children of North Carolina residents who were born abroad and indicated they have never resided in the state.
A bipartisan state law explicitly granted voting rights to “never residents,” but Tessener, in a brief three-page order, agreed with the RNC and NC GOP that this was unconstitutional.
“Persons who have never resided in North Carolina ... are not eligible to register and vote in any North Carolina election contest,” he wrote.
The RNC and NC GOP publicly claimed victory in the case nearly two weeks ago, though no official ruling was released to the public until Tuesday.
“This is a clear win for fair and lawful elections,” RNC Chair Joe Gruters said at the time. “The court upheld the North Carolina Constitution and made clear that only North Carolina residents can vote in the state. The RNC will keep fighting to ensure only eligible citizens can vote.”
At a hearing last month, Mary Lucasse, a lawyer representing the State Board of Elections, said that the lawsuit was unnecessary because “never residents” had already had their voting rights limited during Republican Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin’s unprecedented attempt to overturn his loss in the 2024 state Supreme Court election.
Though he failed in his effort to throw out 65,000 ballots, courts did agree with one of his arguments, ruling that “never residents” were ineligible to participate in future state elections.
The State Board of Elections disallowed these voters from casting ballots in state and local elections, but determined that they were still required to allow their participation in federal contests.
The NC GOP and RNC disagreed with this carve-out and asked Tessener to ban “never residents” from all elections. His order on Tuesday explicitly states that this class of voter is banned from participating in federal elections in the state.
It is unclear exactly how many voters meet the definition of “never resident.” Griffin attempted to throw out the ballots of 260 voters he claimed were in this category, but several of the accused were later shown to be longtime North Carolina residents, the Assembly reported.
