Embattled North Carolina elections board meets on lawsuits, takes no action

The North Carolina State Board of Elections did not address its pending lawsuits following a closed session to discuss them on Monday.

The board was hit by two different lawsuits in the past week, challenging its decisions to approve the We the People party and deny approval to the Justice for All Party.

During the meeting, the board moved into a closed session to seek legal counsel regarding the litigations, but had no public comments before adjournment.

This all comes after massive public controversy over decisions the board has made to either allow or deny access to three different parties. The fallout has been a committee probe out of the U.S House of Representatives, a committee probe from the North Carolina House of Representatives and the two lawsuits – all in just 26 days.

Absentee mail ballots go out Sept. 6, just 39 days away.

At the beginning of the month, three parties sought recognition for the ballot and the board considered their petitions, each with more than 13,865 signatures as required by law. The board approved the Constitution Party on July 9, and We the People on July 16. Justice for All was denied at every step.

The North Carolina Democratic Party is challenging the decision to approve We the People, which would grant Robert F. Kennedy Jr. access to the state’s ballot. On Friday, the Democrats requested a Wake County Superior Court judge to remove the party from the ballot.

Democrats say the “board’s decision here collapses the distinction between candidates and parties, permitting campaign committees such as the Kennedy campaign to circumvent not only ballot-access rules but also the limits on campaign contributions and expenditures.”

Of the presidential candidates for the three parties, Kennedy is most likely to draw votes away from the Democrats.

Early last week, three Fayetteville residents filed a lawsuit challenging the board's decision to deny ballot access to the Justice for All Party, which supports Cornel West for president. That decision was made on party lines, with the board’s three Democrats all voting against the party, while its Republicans supported the party.

West is also considered a threat to those supporting Democrats.

There have been many allegations of political bias against some members of the board, with the Judiciary Committee and House Administration Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives even opening an inquiry into the board in early July.

The board has expressed no plans to further consider granting ballot access to the Justice for All Party, leaving it instead to the legal system to decide.

For the state election board, the litigation is familiar territory. It was successful keeping the Green Party out of the 2022 midterms, but not once in court after Election Day. There, they were found to have acted improperly; the penalty was paying the legal fees of the party. All election results stood as called.