DOJ Sues North Carolina Over Voter Registration Issues

The Justice Department sued North Carolina on Wednesday, alleging the battleground state failed to maintain accurate voter registration lists. 

The litigation advances President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14248, “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” to ensure enforcement of existing federal election laws.

The federal complaint alleges North Carolina’s Board of Elections used a state voter registration form that failed to require a voter to provide identifying information such as a driver’s license or the last four digits of a Social Security number, as required under the Help America Vote Act. 

“Accurate voter registration rolls are critical to ensure that elections in North Carolina are conducted fairly, accurately, and without fraud,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a public statement. “The Department of Justice will not hesitate to file suit against jurisdictions that maintain inaccurate voter registration rolls in violation of federal voting laws.”

Sam Hayes, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, said he wanted to ensure the state complies with the Help America Vote Act.

“I was only recently notified of this action by the United States Department of Justice,” Hayes told WECT News Channel 6 of Wilmington. “We are still reviewing the complaint, but the failure to collect the information required by HAVA has been well documented. Rest assured that I am committed to bringing North Carolina into compliance with federal law.”

North Carolina ranks 18th in the nation on The Heritage Foundation’s Election Integrity Scorecard.

Trump carried the closely contested state in the last three presidential cycles. The last time the state went Democrat in a presidential election was in 2008 for Barack Obama.

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