Federal judge refuses to block new North Carolina absentee ballot rules

In September, the North Carolina Alliance for Retired Americans, North Carolina Asian Americans Together, Down Home North Carolina and two individual voters sued the state board of elections and two county boards over last-minute absentee ballot changes. The revisions, adopted on Sept. 4, require local officials to verify signatures and to reject ballots not sealed in an inner envelope. Judge Thomas Schroeder, a George W. Bush appointee, rejected the request for a preliminary injunction, citing the plaintiffs’ 18-day delay and the impracticality of halting the rules before the November vote.

He described the new requirements as modest, noting voters can correct a spoiled ballot or vote in person. The state argues the measures safeguard ballot secrecy and confirm the voter’s identity. Local boards have already begun discarding ballots that fail to meet the new standards, while over 40,000 mail ballots have been cast and nearly 150,000 absentee requests filed.