United States of America v. North Carolina State Board of Elections

On May 27, 2025, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) sued the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) for violating Section 303(a) of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina. It alleged the state was in violation of HAVA because a “significant number” of North Carolina voter registration records lacked certain required identifying information. The complaint did not allege that any voter whose registration lacked these numbers was at fault for the missing information or ineligible to vote.  

The DOJ asked the court to order the NCSBE to contact every voter whose record was missing a driver’s license number or the last four digits of their social security number (SSN-4) to obtain the information and then file a sworn certification that all records in the state’s voter registration list are in full compliance with Section 303(a). If a voter cannot be reached, cannot timely confirm registration information, or they encounter an administrative error, the voter would be removed from the rolls. Even if this relief was not granted, the DOJ and NCSBE could reach a similar result through settling the case. The current NCSBE director stated he supported the suit and planned to work toward a resolution with the DOJ.  

On June 17, 2025, the League of Women Voters of North Carolina (LWVNC), the North Carolina Conference of the NAACP, and five individual voters filed a motion to intervene in the suit to represent the rights of voters. The Democratic National Committee also moved to intervene in the case on the same day.  

LWVNC is represented in this matter by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.