(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) For years, the North Carolina Board of Elections maintained that state law allowed certain non-residents to vote in federal elections. On Tuesday, a state court ruled that this interpretation was unconstitutional.
The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by the Republican National Committee against the North Carolina Board of Elections, challenging the controversial interpretation of the state’s voter eligibility laws.
The lawsuit centered on the board’s position that while the North Carolina Supreme Court had barred non-residents from voting in state and local elections, those individuals could still cast ballots in federal races.
The Wake County Superior Court rejected that argument, according to a statement by the Republican National Committee, with RNC Chairman Joe Gruters hailing the ruling as a victory for “fair and lawful elections.”
“The court upheld the North Carolina Constitution and made clear that only North Carolina residents can vote in the state,” Gruters said. “The RNC will keep fighting to ensure only eligible citizens can vote.”
The RNC had sued the North Carolina Board of Elections after it allowed individuals born overseas and who had never lived in the state to vote in federal elections.
“After the State Supreme Court’s decision, the North Carolina Board of Elections stopped allowing non-residents to vote for state offices but continued to allow them to vote in federal elections,” the RNC noted.
The RNC stressed that the ruling does not affect eligible voters under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, which allows U.S. citizens serving abroad to vote absentee so long as they previously lived in the state.
North Carolina Republican Party Chairman Jason Simmons echoed Gruters’s remarks in a separate statement.
“This ruling confirms the state constitution forbids voting by individuals who have never lived in North Carolina,” Simmons added. “The Court of Appeals and Supreme Court decisively ruled on this previously and the decision reaffirms the common-sense principle only North Carolina citizens can vote in North Carolina elections.”
