NC NAACP, Impacted Voters Urge State Board to Dismiss NC Election Protests

DURHAM, N.C. (Dec. 6, 2024) — The North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP and two impacted voters, Bertha Leverette and Jackson Sailor Jones, urged the State Board of Elections to reject an attempt by unsuccessful North Carolina Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin and others to disqualify the ballots of more than 60,000 registered voters.  

In a legal brief to the board filed by their counsel, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, Mayer Brown, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the impacted voters emphasized that the election protests — which allege certain voters had “incomplete” voter registrations — were devoid of any evidence that those voters were ineligible to vote in the 2024 general election. There also is no evidence any of those voters did anything other than follow the rules presented to them like every other person who cast a ballot in this election.  

Impacted voters include members of the NC NAACP, Leverette, and Jones, who are fully qualified to vote in the state and were registered before they cast a ballot. The election protests seek to disenfranchise these, and thousands of other, eligible voters in the state who had confirmed their registration before voting, a move that the impacted voters argue would contradict state and federal law. 

Read the full submission here. 

Importantly, this issue was already considered by a federal court last month. In related pre-election federal litigation brought by the Republican National Committee and the NC NAACP, Leverette and Jones were accepted as “friends of the court.” In an amicus brief to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, they cited federal law prohibiting the removal of these impacted voters from the state’s voter rolls. The Fourth Circuit largely agreed with those arguments, remanding the case back to the district court to rule in the first instance.  

On November 22, 2024, Federal Judge E. Richard Myers III of the Eastern District of North Carolina ruled that plaintiffs “are not going to obtain any relief in connection with the most recent election.” The current election protests challenging purported “incomplete” voter registrations essentially seek to side-step this order, requesting that votes be discounted nonetheless unless voters “cure” purported issues with their registration. 

The submission from impacted voters notes the myriad of issues with this request.  

“The extraordinary relief Protestors seek would result in extreme disruption to North Carolina’s election system,” the document states. “It would be fundamentally unfair to disqualify the votes of more than 60,000 North Carolinians—thereby denying them their fundamental right to vote—when each of those voters registered and voted in the manner provided by law.” 

“The attempt to disenfranchise more than 60,000 eligible voters is an affront to democracy and a direct attack on the fundamental rights of North Carolinians,” said Deborah D. Maxwell, President of the North Carolina NAACP. “The State Board of Elections must reject these baseless protests, which seek to undermine the will of the people and the rule of law. The NAACP remains steadfast in defending the rights of all voters and ensuring that every legally cast ballot is counted.” 

“While most North Carolinians have turned our attention to this season of giving, Jefferson Griffin has instead taken a tactic straight from the Grinch’s playbook,” said Jones. “With today’s brief, I hope the Board will understand that this isn’t just a last-ditch effort by a losing candidate — it’s a desperate attempt to win at any cost by disenfranchising tens of thousands of North Carolina voters like me weeks after our votes have been cast and counted. You don’t need a law degree to know we deserve better.” 

“These protests are factually inaccurate, legally flawed, and come way, way too late in the process,” said Chris Shenton, Counsel for Voting Rights at SCSJ. “Protesters aim to strip the constitutional rights of thousands of North Carolinians weeks after voting has ended, and only brought these challenges when it became clear they lost their contests. We urge the Board to swiftly reject these challenges – the right to vote is too important for anything else. 

“Thousands of ballots from eligible North Carolinians hang in the balance,” said Jennifer Nwachukwu, Senior Counsel with the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “The Board must reject the election protests and prevent voters from being disenfranchised through no fault of their own.” 

Individuals in North Carolina who believe they may be impacted by election protests can visit Southern Coalition for Social Justice’s NC Election Protests Explainer for more information. Impacted voters who want to speak directly to a non-partisan voting rights attorney for additional information can email Jeff Loperfido, SCSJ’s Chief Counsel of Voting Rights, at jeffloperfido@scsj.org.  

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Southern Coalition for Social Justice, founded in 2007, partners with communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities in the South to defend and advance their political, social, and economic rights through the combination of legal advocacy, research, organizing, and communications. Learn more at southerncoalition.org and follow our work on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. 

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to mobilize the nation’s leading lawyers as agents for change in the Civil Rights Movement. Today, the Lawyers’ Committee uses legal advocacy to achieve racial justice, fighting inside and outside the courts to ensure that Black people and other people of color have the voice, opportunity, and power to make the promises of our democracy real. The Lawyers’ Committee implements its mission and objectives by marshaling the pro bono resources of the bar for litigation, public policy, advocacy and other forms of service by lawyers to the cause of civil rights. The Lawyers’ Committee co-leads the national, nonpartisan Election Protection Hotline (866-OUR-VOTE). 

As the first major law firm to develop and implement a pro bono strategic plan, Mayer Brown has long deployed its considerable resources to offer access to the justice system and confront systemic problems around the world where it can have a major impact. To that end, in 2020 the firm launched Project Equity to combat systemic racism and promote racial equity. Visit: https://www.mayerbrown.com. 

The NAACP advocates, agitates, and litigates for the civil rights due to Black America. Our legacy is built on the foundation of grassroots activism by the biggest civil rights pioneers of the 20th century and is sustained by 21st century activists. From classrooms and courtrooms to city halls and Congress, our network of members across the country works to secure the social and political power that will end race-based discrimination. That work is rooted in racial equity, civic engagement, and supportive policies and institutions for all marginalized people. We are committed to a world without racism where Black people enjoy equitable opportunities in thriving communities.