ICYMI: GOP groups claim victory in two elections cases

North State Journal

A.P. Dillon

June 7, 2026

RALEIGH - The Republican National Committee and the North Carolina Republican Party claimed victory with consent judgments of two court cases dealing with noncitizens on North Carolina voter rolls and "never residents."

The first consent judgment requires the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) to follow a state law enacted in 2023 through an override of former Gov. Roy Cooper's veto. The law requires elections officials to use jury summons questionnaires to locate individuals self-identifying as non-U.S. citizens and remove those ineligible individuals from voter rolls.

Wake County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Bedford approved the agreement May 20 after a hearing lasting just under 20 minutes. Intervenor groups represented by Elias Law Group opposed the settlement, specifically a portion instructing election officials to post a list of those self-identifying noncitizen voters on the NCSBE website.

As of publication time, the formal consent order had not been posted in the state's eCourts System.

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Joe Gruters called it a "major win for election integrity in North Carolina."

"It's straightforward: if someone admits they're not a U.S. citizen during jury duty, that information should be used to check the voter rolls and remove anyone who doesn't belong," Gruters said. "Our fight ensures the law is actually enforced and North Carolina Democrats can't cheat by padding voter rolls with people who are not citizens."

The RNC and NCGOP first sued in 2024 over the NCSBE's failure to comply with the law. The NCSBE had previously called the original allegations false and noted early compliance efforts only identified a small number of cases in 2024.

According to the RNC's release, the RNC, NCGOP and NCSBE have "agreed to the terms of the proposed consent judgment."

The NCSBE did not respond to North State Journal's request for comment prior to publication, however, the NCSBE took steps last December to ensure noncitizens are removed from voter rolls through use of the federal SAVE database. The NCSBE's first submission to the SAVE database found 34,000 deceased voters on the state's rolls.

NCSBE Executive Director Sam Hayes has also been pursuing driver's license and Social Security number data to clean up voter rolls from the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles (NCDMV) but toldNorth State Journal earlier this year that NCDMV Commissioner Paul Tine has been blocking release of the data on legal grounds.

The NCSBE, under a Republican majority and Hayes, has also carried out a voter registration repair project to cure registrations missing those key data sets required by law.

The second case deals with what the NCSBE has estimated to be between 200 and 1,000 "never residents" - individuals registered to vote in North Carolina but who have never actually resided in the state.

The 2024 legal challenge argued never residents to be a violation of the North Carolina Constitution's residency requirements in Article VI, Section 2 of the state constitution, which requires actual residence or "intent to return" for state elections.

Special Wake County Superior Court Judge Hoyt Tessener issued the order, which has not yet been posted in the state's eCourts System.

The previous Democrat-controlled NCSBE and Democratic National Committee both opposed "never resident" changes and wanted the case dismissed, pointing to "never residents" being eligible for federal elections under state law and prior rulings. Democrats also sought to move part of the case to a three-judge panel.

"This is a clear win for fair and lawful elections," Gruters said in a statement. "The court upheld the North Carolina Constitution and made clear that only North Carolina residents can vote in the state. The RNC will keep fighting to ensure only eligible citizens can vote."

The NCGOP issued a statement on the never resident case.

"This ruling confirms the state constitution forbids voting by individuals who have never lived in North Carolina," NCGOP Chairman Jason Simmons said. "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."

The "never residents" issue was also raised during the 2024 Supreme Court race by Republican candidate and Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin. The North Carolina Supreme Court eventually heard that case, ruling not to remove any ballots from the race but deciding those ballots shouldn't have been counted.

The ruling disallowed "never residents" from voting in state elections but preserved the ability to vote in national-level elections due to federal voting rights laws. The court also upheld the Court of Appeals on overseas and military residents needing to show ID but did not toss their ballots.

Additionally, the ruling reversed the Court of Appeals order tossing 60,000 ballots from voters whose registrations were incomplete for having missing driver's license numbers and/or the last four digits of their Social Security number. In its ruling, the Supreme Court chastised the NCSBE for "inattention and failure to dutifully conform its conduct to the law's requirements" to repair those registrations.

As with the noncitizens case, when the new Republican-majority took over at the NCSBE, the items decided by the state Supreme Court were addressed.