After federal judge’s rebuke, NC elections board changes absentee ballot procedure

One day after a federal judge blasted North Carolina’s policy for handling absentee ballots without a signature, the State Board of Elections changed the procedure until the legal confusion gets sorted out.

For several weeks, voters who submitted their absentee ballot without the required witness signature have been given an affidavit form to sign, confirming their identity in submitting the ballot. Previously ballots without a witness were rejected, and voters had to submit a new ballot.

Republican lawmakers and President Donald Trump’s campaign filed suit over the change, which came amid a proposed State Board of Elections settlement in a lawsuit over absentee ballots. On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge William Osteen issued an order criticizing the policy change, saying it’s likely inconsistent with a ruling he made in August in a different lawsuit.

The State Board of Elections sent county election officials new instructions Thursday. For the time being, they’ll set aside any ballots that arrive without a witness signature. They won’t be approved or rejected until judges weigh in further.

“Absentee envelopes with a missing witness signature shall be kept in a secure location and shall not be considered by the county board until further notice,” the elections board wrote in a memo. “Once the State Board receives further direction from a court, we will issue guidance to county boards on what actions they should take regarding container-return envelopes with a missing witness signature.”

The memo cites Osteen’s order, in which the judge argues that allowing someone to cast a ballot without getting the signature of a witness effectively rewrites election law. Halting action on ballots without a witness aims “to avoid confusion while related matters are pending in a number of courts,” the memo said.

Osteen has summoned the parties in the federal lawsuit over absentee ballots to a court hearing next Wednesday. The plaintiffs in that case, led by the voting rights advocacy group Democracy NC, called on Osteen to settle the matter quickly by establishing the procedure for correcting the absentee ballot mistakes — rather than leaving it to the elections board.

“The court should act now to ensure that the due process rights of North Carolina’s voters are protected,” the plaintiffs’ attorneys wrote in a court filing late Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a judge in state court will soon review the settlement agreement in the other lawsuit, which includes the change in handling absentee ballots without a witness.

Three Republican state senators wrote to State Board of Elections executive director Karen Brinson Bell and Attorney General Josh Stein, whose office is representing the elections board, asking them to withdraw the proposed settlement before the judge approves it.

“Enough confusion and chaos has engulfed the election process and your actions have created unnecessary burdens on voters,” Republican Sens. Ralph Hise, Warren Daniel and Paul Newton wrote Thursday. The trio co-chair the Senate’s elections committee.

“Your decision to change those laws while the election is actively underway has created chaos and confusion, and you’ve added to it by issuing three conflicting sets of guidance in the past six weeks,” they wrote.

State legislators who back the witness requirement say it’s a key safeguard against the kind of absentee ballot fraud that marred the 9th Congressional District election in 2018.

But multiple lawsuits have challenged the rule, arguing that requiring a witness signature during a pandemic could be an unfair burden to voters who live alone and might be avoiding contact with others due to COVID-19.

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This story was originally published October 1, 2020 at 3:53 PM with the headline "After federal judge’s rebuke, NC elections board changes absentee ballot procedure."