Morrisville, N.C. (October 23, 2024) – This past week, judges rejected two separate “election integrity” bills aimed at feeding the ongoing narrative around attempts to “steal” the 2024 Election. These misleading suits have pointed toward the immigrant community as being key players in the “undermining” of our elections as well as confidence in North Carolina’s electoral process.
Late last week, a federal judge partially rejected the North Carolina Republican Party’s attempt to remove nearly 250,000 North Carolina voters from the voter roll, saying neither judges nor private citizens have the right to remove voters from the rolls. The federal court declined to take action on the state constitutional claim, which is now back in state court. Separately, on Monday, a judge ruled that the Republican National Committee’s lawsuit against the NC State Board of Elections alleging they allowed overseas citizens to vote in North Carolina – despite having never lived in the state — was baseless, pointing toward there being “absolutely no evidence” to support claims of such fraud.
The one-two punch rejection of these election integrity lawsuits takes place during a key moment in this historic election season. They bolster several clear points of fact, including that every state – including North Carolina – and the federal government have checks and balances in place to ensure eligible U.S. citizens are able to vote in elections, as well as that states and counties regularly maintain their voter rolls to remove those living abroad who are not eligible to vote. Yet the constant onslaught of election integrity lawsuits and policies would have voters believe elections are unsafe and in jeopardy.
Here in North Carolina, voters will vote on a constitutional amendment on November 5 that ignores our robust election safeguards as well as state and federal laws that require U.S. citizenship to vote. The messaging around this amendment is deeply harmful — by discouraging naturalized citizens from voting, or more troubling, using such a change to our state constitution to further bar them from the ballot box due to the larger anti-immigrant fervor that has pervaded the 2024 General Election.
To add to the concern, organizations such as El Pueblo and Forward Justice, as well as volunteers through Democracy North Carolina’s hotline (888-OUR-VOTE), have received reports of signage at polling sites across the state, posted by the North Carolina Election Integrity Team, warning that any person who votes in the 2024 election who is not a U.S. citizen could be charged with a crime and face deportation. The signs, which are exclusively in Spanish, are aimed at chilling the vote and intimidating voters, particularly among the Latino community.
“These lawsuits fail to provide any substantial evidence of voter fraud or that ineligible people are voting,” said Katelin Kaiser, Policy Director at Democracy North Carolina. “We have seen this GOP litigation playbook occur in each presidential election, and its goal is to deceive North Carolinians of the truth and prevent voters of color and young people from exercising their fundamental freedom to vote. Rather than spreading lies, now is the time to focus on ensuring all eligible voters are registered to vote and plan to make their voices heard.”
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Democracy North Carolina is a statewide nonpartisan organization that uses research, organizing, and advocacy to strengthen democratic structures, build power among disenfranchised communities, and inspire confidence in a transformed political process that works for all.