Federal Judge Keeps North Carolina Mail Voting Restrictions in Place for November Election
Raleigh is a city in Wake County, North Carolina. A federal judge in North Carolina ruled on Monday, October 19, that the state's new mail voting restrictions will remain in place for the November election. US District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder of the Middle District of North Carolina denied a motion for a preliminary injunction from the North Carolina Alliance for Retired Americans and other plaintiffs.
The rules, adopted by the State Board of Elections on September 4, promote a signature-verification requirement and target mistakes voters make when sealing their ballots' inner envelopes. The plaintiffs claim the rules unduly burden the right to vote in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Schroeder said the plaintiffs had not made a “clear showing” that they are likely to succeed on the merits, admonished them for delaying their September 22 complaint, and noted that the US Supreme Court has instructed lower courts ordinarily not to alter election rules on the eve of an election — and that in North Carolina, through early voting, the election “has already started.”
The defendants include the State Board of Elections and the Durham County and Guilford County boards of elections. Patterson Harkavy LLP and Elias Law Group LLP represent the plaintiffs. The ruling is at the preliminary injunction stage, and whether the plaintiffs will appeal has not been announced. (GSM, via Bloomberg Government; case No. 1:26-cv-00965)
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Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
