Two lawsuits, federal and state probes shackle North Carolina election board

Two lawsuits, one federal investigation and one state investigation have created quite a first 26 days of July for the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

Chaired by Democrat Alan Hirsch, the panel was hit with a second litigation on Friday, this time by the state Democratic Party. Plaintiffs ask in Wake County Superior Court to have the We the People Party, approved July 16, removed from the November ballot.

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

Further, the documents filed say, "The court should declare that North Carolina does not permit candidate campaigns to use the new-party recognition process to evade the requirements applicable to unaffiliated candidates."

We the People is pushing former Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for president. Its party recognition with the state allows it to run candidates for other positions as well.

In terms of ironies, Kennedy formerly being in the party of the plaintiffs couples with Democrats campaigning this year on placing democracy on the ballot. The state board kept the Constitution Party in limbo from June 26 until approval on July 9.

The Center Square was unsuccessful getting comment from the state Board of Elections, and respective state Democratic Party and Republican Party communications teams before publication. (This is a developing story; check back for details.)

On Monday, a lawsuit by three Fayetteville residents was filed against the state Board of Elections because it blocked the Justice for All Party, supporter of Cornel West for president.

In terms of political leaning, the Constitution Party is conservative and considered a threat to siphon votes from the Republican Party. We the People and Justice for All are each considered possibilities to lure voters from Democrats.

All three parties met the state's 13,865 petition signature threshold to qualify for party recognition. The state board deliberated on validity for each.

Friday marked 26 days since the probe announced by the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. On Wednesday of this week, there was four hours of the state board before the Oversight Committee in the North Carolina House of Representatives.

If scoring at home, that's 26 days since the federal inquiry, there are only 43 days until absentee ballots are mailed out on Sept. 6, and 103 days until Election Day.