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Voting Rights
On Thursday a federal judge ruled that the Republican Party did not have standing to petition to remove 225,000 voters from the state’s voter rolls. Republicans had sued to remove these voters based on a registration form that did not clearly specify that registrants must either provide a social security number or driver’s license number or check a box stating they do not have either. However, even if voters did not supply this information in registration, they would be required to show a document verifying their address prior to voting. The plaintiffs made a second claim that by failing to remove these voters, the State Board of Elections violated the NC Constitution’s right to vote, but the judge sent that claim back to Wake County Superior Court, saying that it should be decided by a state court rather than a federal court.
Some North Carolina voters who requested absentee ballots have found that both envelopes that are supposed to be used for returning their ballots are already sealed. This is likely due to moisture from Hurricane Helene or other weather events. The State Board of Elections says that voters who receive sealed envelopes must request new ballots, because if they attempt to unseal them themselves the ballots could be perceived as tampered with. If just one envelope is sealed shut, the voter can either request a new ballot or initial on the envelope after resealing it.
North Carolina sets record for first day of voting with more than 350K ballots – Brandon Kingdollar, NC Newsline
Health Care Policy
On Friday the NC Supreme Court ruled in a case that could significantly change how North Carolina’s health care industry operates. In response to a suit from a New Bern eye doctor who has been prohibited from buying equipment to perform cataract surgeries due to certificate-of-need rules, the state Supreme Court ordered that the case go back to a lower court to be retried to determine whether certificate-of-need rules are unconstitutional. These rules, which are supported by hospital lobbying groups, require health care organizations to gain approval from the government to buy equipment or open health care facilities so that unnecessary health care spending does not impact costs for consumers.
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