Source: WRAL
A federal judge has rejected the Republican Party’s effort to remove nearly 225,000 voters from North Carolina’s voter rolls just as early voting started. The GOP had argued that flaws in the state’s voter registration system justified the purge.
Chief District Judge Richard Myers II, appointed by former President Trump, dismissed one of the two legal claims brought by the GOP and declined to rule on the other. Myers stated that the authority to manage voter rolls lies solely with state election officials, who had already investigated the claims and found no evidence of wrongdoing. He warned that ruling in favor of the GOP could undermine democratic governance.
The Democratic campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris, which supported the elections board and affected voters, hailed the ruling. A spokesperson pointed out that even a judge appointed by Trump dismissed the GOP’s allegations, which lacked evidence.
The North Carolina Republican Party did not immediately respond to the ruling. This case is part of a broader pattern, as Republicans have also lost recent election-related lawsuits in Georgia and Arizona. Harris’s campaign vowed to continue defeating such challenges both in court and at the ballot box.
Earlier this year, state election officials had already removed around 750,000 voters for reasons such as death or relocation. The GOP’s lawsuit aimed to remove an additional 225,000 voters. Conservative activists had alleged multiple voter registrations could lead to fraud, but the state’s Board of Elections found these claims unfounded, including cases where the same name was misidentified as duplicate voters.
Despite these findings, Republicans pursued legal action, seeking to remove voters from the rolls. Judge Myers sided with the state, rejecting one of the GOP’s claims and referring the other for further legal review in state court.
