Good morning and welcome to your Under the Dome newsletter. I’m Caitlyn Yaede. We start today with reporter Kyle Ingram’s dispatch from a Wilmington courthouse.
A federal judge partially dismissed a controversial Republican lawsuit seeking to purge 225,000 North Carolina voters from the rolls on Thursday.
The lawsuit alleges that the State Board of Elections improperly allowed these voters to register without providing certain identification information.
Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, ruled that the NC GOP and Republican National Committee did not have the right to sue over the federal voter registration law in question.
However, Myers agreed to send a separate portion of the GOP’s lawsuit, which made arguments based on the North Carolina Constitution, back to a state court for consideration.
The impetus for the lawsuit is a voter registration form that the Republican plaintiffs say did not clearly tell registrants that a driver’s license number or last four digits of a Social Security number were required to register.
“The court is not insensitive to plaintiffs’ concerns about election integrity and voter disenfranchisement,” Myers wrote in his order. “Nor is its decision in any way a stamp of approval on Defendants’ conduct.”
That form has been updated and Republicans have not provided specific examples of registrants who successfully used the form to register despite being ineligible. Regardless, all voters are required to show voter ID in this year’s election.
The state board and the Democratic National Committee, which intervened as a defendant in the case, have until Oct. 22 to appeal Myers’ decision to send part of the case back to state court.
Both of North Carolina’s statewide appellate courts have Republican majorities.
In court on Thursday, attorneys for the State Board of Elections and the DNC argued that the case deals primarily with federal law and should therefore stay in federal court.
The National Voter Registration Act prohibits states from systematically removing registrants starting 90 days before an election. That deadline had already passed when Republicans filed the lawsuit in August.
The NC GOP’s attorney, however, argued that state law also sets out voter registration requirements – even if those only replicate federal law.
This lawsuit is one of several the RNC and NC GOP have brought against the elections board in recent months. Other cases challenge the board on digital voter IDs, absentee return envelopes and more.
– Kyle Ingram
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Today, on the second day of early voting, Republican candidates Mark Robinson and Hal Weatherman plan to campaign together today at a joint town hall in Marion. Before joining the candidate for governor in Western North Carolina, lieutenant governor candidate Weatherman will be at John M. Brown Community Center — an early voting location in Wake County — to meet voters this morning.
POLL WATCH
The latest polling from Quinnipiac University indicates a tight race in the presidential election in the battleground state of North Carolina. Vice President Kamala Harris has 49% support among likely voters, compared to 47% for Donald Trump. The race remains “too close to call.”
WHAT ELSE WE’RE WORKING ON
-
VP candidate Tim Walz made several stops across the state Thursday, Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan reports, including in Durham, where he took the stage at a campaign rally with former President Bill Clinton. Waltz was then set to fly to Winston-Salem for another campaign event with the musician Common.
-
Trump is expected to visit Greenville on Monday, rallying at Williams Arena on East Carolina University’s campus. This is the same venue where Harris hosted a campaign event on Sunday. Avi Bajpai has more.
WHAT ELSE WE’RE READING
-
The impacts of Hurricane Helene are still being felt in Mitchell County, where access to clean drinking water is limited, WUNC’s Will Atwater reports. The county’s water treatment system was made inoperable by the hurricane.
VOTER GUIDE
In the latest candidate questionnaires from our 2024 NC Voter Guide, see what candidates for U.S. House District 12 have to say about the issues, and learn more about their biographies.
Two candidates answered our questions:
Today’s newsletter was by Caitlyn Yaede. Check your inbox tomorrow for more #ncpol.
-
You can sign up to receive the Under the Dome newsletter at newsobserver.com/newsletters. Want your friends to get our email, too? Forward them this newsletter so they can sign up.
-
We want to know what you would like to see in the Under the Dome newsletter. Do you like highlights from the legislature? Political analysis? Do you have a question you’d like The News & Observer team to answer? Tell us here. You can also email us at dome@newsobserver.com
-
Don’t forget to follow our tweets and listen to our Under the Dome podcast for more developments.
EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel
