Lawsuit seeks to block new NC mail-in ballot processes

A coalition of left-leaning groups is suing to block new absentee ballot guidelines approved by the State Board of Elections, arguing that mail-in voters could be disenfranchised.

The legal challenge involves a new directive from the elections board to reject mail-in ballots that aren't sealed properly, forcing the voter to start the process over again.

"The State Board’s new policies will require counties to invalidate absentee ballots for innocuous, technical errors unrelated to individuals’ eligibility to vote," the lawsuit says. "Counties must now disqualify a ballot if the voter returns their absentee ballot package with an unsealed inner envelope — even if the package is otherwise properly sealed."

The lawsuit also takes issue with new signature verification guidelines that the plaintiffs say are too vague. They say attempts to match a voter's signature on their absentee ballot with other signatures on file could lead to errors and isn't needed to verify the voter's identity.

"In imposing the new requirement, the State Board defined neither clear standards nor any instructions to guide county boards’ discretion in how to verify signatures," the lawsuit says. "Nor does it instruct a county how to respond if it determines it cannot verify a signature. This state-sanctioned free-for-all will inevitably subject ballots to varying scrutiny between and within counties — resulting in unequal treatment of voters and arbitrary disenfranchisement."

The lawsuit was filed by the national law firm of Marc Elias, which frequently represents Democratic Party groups. The plaintiffs include the N.C. Alliance for Retired Americans, N.C. Asian Americans Together and Down Home North Carolina, as well as some individual voters. It was filed in the federal court for the Middle District of North Carolina, which as of Wednesday morning had not scheduled any hearings in the case.

The State Board of Elections approved the guidelines along party lines earlier this month, after an attempt to enact them as formal rules was delayed following opposition from Gov. Josh Stein and others. The rules were approved by the Rules Review Commission but will now need approval from the legislature before they become official.

An elections board spokesman told WUNC News the agency won't comment on pending litigation. But during the elections board's Sept. 4 meeting, Republican board member Stacy "Four" Eggers defended the new guidelines, which have been sent to county election officials as "numbered memos" rather than formal rules.

"The voter experience in casting their ballots will not change," Eggers said. "This numbered memo is simply guidance — an updated guidance, I might add — as to what the board and staff at the county level will do and how they will process things."

Absentee voting by mail is under way, with more than 8,000 ballots already cast, according to data analyzed by Western Carolina University political scientist Chris Cooper.