State Board of Elections approves changes

The North Carolina State Board of Elections made several significant changes to requirements for voting at its July 21 meeting, including overseas and military photo ID, same-day voter registration and “never resident” voting.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE), which has a 3-2 Republican majority, also dismissed a complaint against Cumberland County Board of Elections Chair Linda Devore regarding her role at the NCGOP Convention, finding no legal violations.

The NCSBE voted unanimously to approve changes to overseas and military voting that require photo ID in municipal elections starting this year. Overseas and military voters can upload their ID using an online portal or mail a copy.

The NCSBE also unanimously approved continuation of its current process for same-day voter registration, citing federal litigation over 2023 legislative changes. NCSBE General Counsel Paul Cox noted that litigation is still ongoing but that a recent consent agreement in the case included keeping the current process in place.

Under the existing process, voters who register during early voting receive address verification cards. If one comes back undeliverable, they get another opportunity to resolve the issue before removing their ballot and registration.

Additionally, the NCSBE adopted changes for “never residents” — individuals with family ties to North Carolina who have never lived in the state themselves. Under the changes, these individuals can no longer vote in state and local elections but retain the right to vote in federal contests.

During the discussion on “never residents,” Cox clarified that a state court of appeals ruled such voters were ineligible for voting in state and municipal races.

“There is a state law that says if you are one of these people or a child of a North Carolinian who has never resided here, but you are a U.S. citizen, there is a state law that says you can vote in our elections,” Cox said. “What the court of appeals in the (Jefferson) Griffin case said, we’re looking at that state law and we’re saying, ‘Well, that’s not true for state elections.’”

Cox noted the Court of Appeals ruling cited residency requirements in the state constitution, and he said the court had left in place the ability for “never residents” to vote in federal elections.

The NCSBE estimated there are 200 to 1,000 “never resident” voters.

One additional measure adopted by the NCSBE involved municipal election administration. The change allows county boards to extend candidate filing periods by five days for nonpartisan contests with insufficient candidates.

The municipal election administration changes also include shortening the canvas periods for September and October municipal elections from 10 days to seven. Specific deadlines for county early voting (EV) plan submissions to the NCSBE were also approved. For September elections, the county board EV submission date is “no later than” July 29; for October elections, the date is Aug. 8.

Most of the major approvals made by the NCSBE during its meeting track back to election challenges filed by Griffin, a Republican, during his 2024 state Supreme Court Race against incumbent Democratic Justice Allison Riggs.

Griffin, who conceded after a six-month legal battle, challenged photo ID requirements for military and overseas voters, “never resident” ballots, and voters missing driver’s license and Social Security data required under state and federal law.

The N.C. Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Griffin on photo ID, and it said overseas and military voters needed to follow the same rules as civilian voters and provide photo ID in nonfederal elections. The court also found that “never residents” were not eligible to vote in state and municipal elections under the N.C. Constitution’s residency requirements.

On the same day the NCSBE met, a lawsuit surrounding the use of electronic voter ID ended in a joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice, with the NCSBE agreeing not to accept such IDs unless the legislature takes steps to authorize them.

Currently, state law doesn’t explicitly prohibit the use of electronic IDs, and the NCSBE’s voter ID pagedoes not mention their use.

The case was brought by the Republican National Committee and N.C. Republican Party against the NCSBE, the Democratic National Committee and the Marc Elias-represented Affirmative Action Coalition after the then-Democratically controlled NCSBE approved using UNC Chapel Hill’s Mobile One Card during the 2024 election cycle.

The former NCSBE’s decision to allow those IDs during the 2024 election cycle was blocked by a N.C. Court of Appeals panel last September after Wake County Superior Court Judge Keith Gregory had upheld their use.

Before the court of appeals ruling, an affidavit filed in the case by an individual named Jeffrey Moore detailed how he could easily alter the UNC Chapel Hill Mobile One card using two online apps in about an hour.