North Carolina unaffiliated voters sue over elections board appointment requirements

Bob Phillips, the group’s executive director, said in a news release that the current system compels independent-minded people to join one of the two major political parties.

“North Carolinians shouldn’t be forced to join a political party in order to serve the public,” Phillips said in a statement. “Barring unaffiliated voters—who are North Carolina’s biggest group of voters—from being members of the State Board of Elections is profoundly unfair and clearly discriminatory.”

House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger are named in the lawsuit. Berger didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Pat Gannon, a spokesman for the State Board of Elections, said the board would review the litigation.

North Carolina had nearly 2.6 million registered unaffiliated voters in the state as of Saturday, according to NCSBE data. The cohort represents a plurality of North Carolina’s electorate. The state reported having about 2.5 million registered Democrats and 2.2 million Republicans.

Among the voter plaintiffs is Seth Effron of Beaufort County. Effron is the opinion editor of Capitol Broadcasting Co., the parent of WRAL-TV. Effron works separately from WRAL News. The other three voters suing the state include Elizabeth Marion Smith of Wake County, James Horton of Mecklenburg County and Tyler Christopher Daye of Guilford County.

Neal Inman, Moore’s chief of staff, didn’t comment on the merits of the complaint but questioned WRAL’s credibility in its coverage of the case due to the fact a Capitol Broadcasting employee is a plaintiff.

Joel Davis, vice president and general manager of WRAL-TV and FOX 50, said in a statement: “To reiterate, the ‘CBC Opinion’ digital column and page are not a part of WRAL News and operate independently from WRAL News. Capitol Broadcasting Co. is WRAL-TV’s parent company with divisions and interests across the Triangle and North Carolina. These companies and their staffs do not influence WRAL News editorial content or political coverage. This distinction is critical and important for our users and viewers. WRAL’s news team consists of respected and honored journalists who take their responsibility to serve the public without bias or favor very seriously.”

The complaint argues that North Carolina’s law violates their free speech and association rights under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and right to equal protection under 14th Amendment.

“The right to vote is a fundamental right and includes the right to participate fully in all aspects of elections,” the lawsuit says.

In 2018, North Carolina lawmakers amended a state law. The revision required the governor to appoint an unaffiliated voter onto the board. The law was repealed later that year. The repeal kept unaffiliated voters off the board.

Under the current system, state party chairs give the governor a list of potential nominees to choose from. Only three members can be of the same political party as the governor. The NCSBE today includes three Democrats and two Republicans.

“The state law barring plaintiffs and all other unaffiliated voters from serving on the State Board serves no public or valid purpose but instead is a means to entrench the Democratic and Republican political parties in power and give them exclusive control over the supervision, management, and administration of the elections system,” the complaint says.