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North Carolina Democrats have introduced a bill designed to prevent votes from being abandoned based on changes to voting rules.
The Voter Protection and Trust Act, filed last week in North Carolina, says votes cast in state elections will count based on election day laws and procedures. It also prohibits votes from being discarded due to technical or administrative errors in voter registration.
Propublica reported before the 2024 election that it is a national group led by a group of lawyers crucial to President Donald Trump, a member of the North Carolina activists and election integral part of the campaign that failed to overturn the 2020 election.
The strategy discussed in that call that Propublica obtained the recording was then used by Republican Court of Appeal Judge Jefferson Griffin to challenge the 734 vote loss to Democrat Allison Riggs for the state’s Supreme Court seat.
“The Propublica report showed people were looking for pretexts to challenge the election in advance,” said Democrat Rep. Phil Rubin, the bill’s leading author. “As opposed to actively revising these issues before the election, Judge Griffin retroactively attempted to overturn his losses. The law prevents similar abuse in the future and forces candidates to act in the interests of voters rather than themselves.”
Griffin spokesman Paul Schmaker said he could not respond to Rubin’s comments, his bill or questions from Propobrica, as North Carolina’s Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits judges and judicial candidates from stating their positions on issues that could come to court.
“If it is enacted by law, it would be a violation to comment on the law, as the law will be subject to judicial review,” Schmaker said.
Last week, the Republican majority North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that, unless election officials provide information within 15 business days, they should discount around 60,000 votes in a Supreme Court competition cast by voters with lack of Social Security and driver’s license information in the state election database. (The decision then remained while the state’s Supreme Court considered the matter.)
At the time of the election, the state election rules allowed people to vote without that information, allowing military members to submit absentee ballots without providing photo ID. In many cases, election databases lacked Social Security and driver’s license information not because of voter errors, but because of administrative errors, including registration forms that did not require identification of these forms.
Nevertheless, the Court of Appeals ruled that the state Election Commission (the agency that publishes election rules) should have requested information.
Griffin’s voting assignment is shown by data analysis that disproportionately affects Democrats and minorities, and their exclusion could potentially postpone election results.
Rubin’s bill also requires lawsuits that include election-related issues to be addressed promptly by North Carolina courts, allowing candidates to resolve issues before the election, not afterwards.
While some North Carolina and National Republicans have criticised Griffin’s agenda, the democratic bill faces uncertain outlook in GOP-controlled Congress.
“The bill won’t go anywhere,” said Mitch Kokai, a conservative John Locke Foundation’s senior political analyst. “It’s a more statement about the Democratic Caucus’ approach to Griffin Riggs’ elections and the way they think it should unfold.”
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The governor of North Carolina and his legislative leaders did not respond to requests for comment.
Rubin said the bill reflects the issues in North Carolina, but could also serve as a model for other states.
“There’s no reason to think that these tactics are limited to North Carolina,” he said at a press conference Thursday about the Supreme Court lawsuit hosted by the Democratic National Committee and the North Carolina Democrats, where he presented the bill.
In addition to Swing States, the Election Integrity Network has many other chapters, and numerous national conservative organizations and partners.
The North Carolina chapter leader did not respond to requests for comments or email questions.
