North Carolina courts adjudicate lawsuits over mail-in vote restrictions

North Carolina mail-in ballot laws pose arduous restrictions on voters who are unfamiliar with absentee voting. Several lawsuits have been filed to ease these restrictions so that fewer North Carolinians will have their say denied in November over simple errors. Source.

As the unprecedented time of 2020 has radically changed circumstances for many, the problems faced in elections have evolved as well. While gerrymandering and discriminatory in-person voting policies continue to plague North Carolina, issues surrounding the rejections of mail-in ballots have come to the forefront amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, as mail-in voting has become key in preventing the spread of the virus at crowded in-person polling locations. As voters who are new to mail-in voting fill out their ballots believing their vote will be counted, legal battles have arisen asking the courts to soften restrictive regulations such as deadlines, witness requirements, and signature matching, that exacerbate the difficulty of mail-in voting. During a time when in-person voting is not a possibility for every citizen, North Carolina's mail-in ballot regulations pose unnecessary hurdles for all voters which may amount to de-facto disenfranchisement - Black voters in particular.

As of September 4th, North Carolina had 643,000 requests for absentee ballots, a significantly larger number than in years past. This is probably due to the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has left people reluctant to leave their homes and venture into the crowds for in-person voting. Compounded with the virus is the fact that this upcoming election is going to be one of the most controversial and contested elections yet. Election experts have stated that it is very likely this election leads to a vicious legal battle over votes, which may come down to which absentee ballots are counted and which are not. In North Carolina, absentee ballots can be rejected on the grounds of signature discrepancies, a lack of a witness, an absence of signature on the envelope, or ballots being received past the stated deadline. CNN cited election expert Rick Hansen saying, “Ordinarily, if you’re going to roll out mail-in balloting on a large scale, you do a big voter education effort, but there’s not really time for that because of the pandemic.” This leaves voters all over the country to fill out their ballots without the proper instruction that would prevent them from making mistakes that would cause their ballot to be thrown out.

Additionally, CNN reported that 2% of some 10,000 absentee ballots that had been sent in since early voting began on September 4th have been rejected, with the rate of rejection for Black voters at nearly 7%. Election officials still have no explanation for the inconsistency, however, this is an issue that could seriously affect the election, as Black voters are a key demographic, especially within Democratic Party coalitions in key swing states. Democratic groups in North Carolina have since filed lawsuits to reverse a state policy that requires voters to complete brand new ballots if their previous ballot is found to have a mistake. The plaintiffs in the case are asking that, just as a voter is able to rectify a signature mistake with their ballot by signing an affidavit, the same be done for witness mistakes, to simplify the voting process and allow for more votes to be counted. 

The lawsuit was successful, seeing as yesterday, the NC Board of Elections announced it had tentatively reached an agreement with the plaintiffs to make it easier for citizens to fix their ballot so that they would not be thrown out. The election officials also announced that they would extend the deadline for when an absentee ballot could come in after the election and still be counted. The hope from these advanced measures is that they will ensure not only that the votes of mail-in ballots and early voters are counted, but also that voters will not become disenfranchised through the voting process. Especially considering the contentious history the US has with restricting the Black vote, increasing the ease of voting and rectifying the issues that allow Black voters’ ballots to be rejected at a higher rate is an important and pertinent issue. 

National and state leaders are striving to keep up and adapt to these unforeseen challenges. While this lawsuit win is a step in the right direction, there are still many hurdles to cross in making the process of completing one’s civic duty of voting easy and accessible. In the meantime, be sure to request your ballot early, read all instructions on your absentee ballot, avoid stray marks or tears, and return your ballot early.