At the same meeting, the board rejected the Justice for All party’s inclusion.
“We the People,” endorsing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for President, was approved by a vote of 4 to 1. The “Justice for All” party, endorsing Cornel West for President, was rejected by a vote of 3 to 2. The decision affects each party’s option to field candidates for all public office in North Carolina, not just for president.
“With the recognition of this party, voters will have a choice of eight party affiliations when registering to vote or updating an existing registration,” the commission’s statement said.
AP
There are no plans to reconsider the Justice for All Party.
Republicans on the committee expressed frustration with the effort to reject both parties, both of which have exceeded the number of signatures needed to qualify.
“I think it was a tragic error by this commission to not honor the verified signatures that were determined through the county commission process,” said Commissioner Stacey Eggers, a Republican.
The party’s policy decision was made at a board meeting Tuesday morning, with Chairman Alan Hirsch, Jeff Carmon and Siobhan Milan, all Democrats, voting against Justice for All. Both Republicans, Kevin Lewis and Eggers, voted in favor.
Hirsch reserved his vote, seemingly referring to the time two years ago when the Green Party was rejected by the state committee and then won in court, albeit not in time for the midterm elections. The state committee, and therefore taxpayer money, was ordered to pay the legal costs of successful plaintiffs.
“If someone wants to challenge it in court, I’m not sure the board should stand in the way,” he said. “They’re welcome to challenge it and I think they have a valid point, but again, I think it’s going to be a very fine line.”
This comes after a month-long scandal that began when both parties and the Constitution Party were denied access to the polls.
This prompted the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary and House Administration committees to launch investigations into the committee’s decision in early July.
“The House Administration and Judiciary Committees are concerned that the NCSBE’s decision was politically motivated and may have been made to influence the 2024 presidential election by restricting the candidates for which voters can vote,” Rep. Jordan and Rep. Brian Steil, R-Wis., wrote.
At a meeting last Tuesday after the investigation was launched, the Constitutional Party was approved, while the other two parties were postponed without a vote.
Randall Terry represents the Constitution Party in the presidential election, which is conservative in nature. Both the other two parties are considered liberal.
Democrats on the committee have been accused of political bias for weeks, and those same committee members have expressed concerns about the legitimacy of signatures submitted by both parties, particularly the Justice for All party.
“Members who opposed the party’s endorsement cited evidence of irregularities in the signature-gathering process and the failure of independent signature gatherers to respond to subpoenas seeking information from the committee,” the committee said in a statement.
Eggers disagreed.
“Why are we today trying to deny the right to vote to legitimate candidates seeking public office,” Eggers said. “At the end of the day, these parties have collected the necessary signatures and they need to be recognized.”
It’s unclear how or whether federal lawmakers investigating the committee will respond to this latest development, and no other meetings have been scheduled to discuss the matter with the officials.
The North Carolina Libertarian Party issued a statement supporting the petition from the three minor parties and condemning the North Carolina Democratic Party for sending multiple letters urging them to deny certification to the parties.
“Layman statistics are not enough of a reason to keep people from voting, but @NCSBE is dominated by people who simply do what they’re told when their team is in charge,” the Libertarian Party said on social media in response to the party’s rejection of justice for all.
“This blatant attempt by NCSBE Democrats to bend the rules to protect their own candidate perfectly illustrates the need for a more balanced elections commission,” House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) said in a statement.
