Judge accepts deal ending US Justice Department lawsuit against NC elections board
A federal judge has signed off on the deal ending the US Justice Department’s lawsuit against the North Carolina State Board of Elections over incomplete voter registrations. The decision means the Democratic Party and left-of-center activists will not join the dispute as defendants.
“The United States and State Board Defendants, through counsel, have conferred in good faith and agree that this action should be settled without protracted and costly litigation,” US Chief District Judge Richard Myers wrote in a 13-page order Monday.
The US Justice Department filed suit against North Carolina elections officials in May. The federal complaint alleged that state officials violated the federal Help America Vote Act. The state failed to ensure that all registered voters had provided a driver’s license number or last four digits of a Social Security number.
“State Board Defendants, their agents, employees, contractors, successors, and all other persons representing the interest of State Board Defendants are required to ensure that North Carolina’s voter registration forms and instructions and the State’ s HAVA List used for elections for Federal office fully complies with Section 303(a)(5) of HAVA,” Myers wrote. “State Board Defendants are further enjoined from engaging in any act or practice that fails to comply with the requirements of Section 303(a) of HAVA.”
Myers’ order describes a remedial plan the state elections board is pursuing to collect missing voter registration information. Voters with incomplete information will be required to cast a provisional ballot when they head to the polls.
“State Board Defendants will instruct the county boards of elections that for all provisional ballots issued pursuant to Paragraph 6(c), the vote cast for each Federal office on the provisional ballot will be counted, notwithstanding the presence of or validation of identification information supplied by the voter on the provisional ballot form , so long as the voter is otherwise eligible to vote under state law,” Myers wrote.
“The provisional voting process … shall not, by itself, result in any voter being removed from the official list of registered voters in state or Federal elections in North Carolina,” he added.
Myers calls for reports from the state elections board in October, December, and February, along with an annual report starting in April 2026.
“This Order is final and binding between the United States and State Board Defendants and their successors in office regarding the claims raised in this action,” the judge wrote. The order remains in effect through June 2027.
The Justice Department and state elections board filed a joint motion last week for a court order ending the lawsuit.
“If approved, the proposed Order would resolve litigation brought by the United States pursuant to its authority to enforce the requirements of Section 303(a) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (‘HAVA’), with respect to the conduct of elections for Federal office in the State of North Carolina,” according to the document signed by lawyers from the federal Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the North Carolina Department of Justice.
US Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon was listed as the top name on the list of federal government lawyers. Three special deputy attorneys general represented the state.
“State Board Defendants are subject to the requirements of Section 303(a) of HAVA, which requires, among other things, that a voter registration application for an election for Federal office may not be accepted or processed by the State unless it includes a driver’s license number from the applicant, or if the applicant does not have a driver’s license, the last four digits of the applicant’s social security number,” the court filing continued. “If an applicant has not been issued a current and valid driver’s license or social security number, the State must assign a special identifying number for voter registration.”
“State Board Defendants are required to maintain a computerized statewide voter registration list in elections for Federal office that complies with Section 303(a). Plaintiff and State Board Defendants agree that the proposed Order will resolve allegations in the Complaint that the State Board Defendants have violated Section 303(a) of HAVA,” according to the document.
The order would apply to all federal elections administered by the state elections board.
“The proposed Order is fair, adequate, and reasonable because it remedies the allegations in the Complaint,” federal and state government lawyers agreed. “The proposed Order prohibits the State Board Defendants from using a voter registration form or procedures that do not comply with Section 303(a) of HAVA.”
“The State Board Defendants are required to update the State’s computerized voter list maintenance system used for elections for Federal offices (the ‘HAVA List’). Pursuant to Section 303(a)(5), State Board Defendants will ensure that voter registrations will have the required administrative number under HAVA. “
The document spells out actions the elections board must take to comply with the deal.
“The State Board Defendants will contact voters registered using an application that did not comply with HAVA or whose record in the HAVA List lacks the required HAVA identification number, to obtain the required information needed to update the record,” according to the document. “Consistent with HAVA’s requirement that all voter registration information be timely entered into the HAVA List, the State Board Defendants will make any update to a record in the HAVA List on an expedited basis after receiving the update, as defined in the proposed Order.”
The state elections board will ensure county elections boards and staff “receive appropriate training and instructions” on HAVA compliance. The state board will also monitor HAVA compliance.
Voters with updated registration records “will vote by regular ballot” in upcoming elections. Those without updated records will cast provisional ballots. “The State Board Defendants will instruct the county boards of elections that for all provisional ballots issued pursuant to paragraph 6(c) only, the vote cast for each Federal office on the provisional ballot will be counted so long as the voter is otherwise eligible to vote under state law,” according to the document. “The provisional voting process outlined in Paragraph 6 shall not, by itself, result in any voter being removed from the official list of registered voters in state or Federal elections in North Carolina.”
“At the outset of this litigation, the records of approximately 100,000 voters lacked a driver’s license or the last four digits of the voter’s social security number as required by HAVA,” federal and state government lawyers wrote. “As of September 2, 2025, that number is 81,810 and dropping as the State Board continues its efforts to collect this information from affected registrants.”
The Justice Department and State Board of Elections urged Myers to deny motions from outside groups to intervene in the case. The Democratic National Committee, state NAACP, League of Women Voters of North Carolina, and North Carolina Alliance for Retired Americans all asked to take part in the case.
The Republican National Committee and North Carolina Republican Party filed suit in August 2024 challenging the former Democrat-majority elections board’s handling of the voter registrations discussed in the Justice Department suit.
The GOP complaint challenged 225,000 voter registrations linked to a disputed voter registration form. Republican groups asked for the affected voters to be dropped from the voting rolls or required to cast a provisional ballot in the 2024 general election.
Courts refused to force the elections board to take that step.
Republican state Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin later raised the same issue in ballot challenges after the election. Trailing Democrat Allison Riggs by 734 votes, Griffin challenged more than 65,000 votes cast in the contest. More than 60,000 of those ballots involved voters whose registration records appeared to lack the required HAVA information.
The state Supreme Court ultimately decided that those votes would count in the final election tally. Griffin conceded the election after Myers declined to support a “cure” process that would have affected ballots Griffin challenged for other reasons.
“Judge accepts deal ending US Justice Department lawsuit against NC elections board” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.
