North Carolina mail ballot changes challenged

Several North Carolina organizations sued the state board of elections Tuesday over changes to absentee ballot rules adopted hours before the state began mailing ballots in early September, the first state to do so this cycle. The new rules require disqualifying ballots not sealed in an inner envelope and add a signature-verification process county boards weren't given clear guidance to implement.

State board member Siobhan O'Duffy Millen estimated during the Sept. 4 meeting that the changes could cause around 9,000 ballots, roughly 3% of the total, to be discarded in a state where elections are frequently decided by thin margins. More than 81,000 voters had already requested absentee ballots when the rules changed, and over 7,000 had already voted.

The lawsuit follows reporting that an elections liaison for Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek, who gained oversight authority after a 2024 legislative reassignment from the governor's office, pushed counties to cut Sunday voting and eliminate a campus polling site. That liaison has since resigned; a Republican county board member also resigned citing outside pressure.

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