The Republican National Committee (RNC) and the North Carolina Republican Party (NCGOP) are seeking to intervene in the Democrat-led lawsuit challenging the Tar Heel state’s newly enacted election law.
North Carolina’s Senate Bill 747 provides “appropriate safeguards and transparency while still offering voters ample opportunities to cast a ballot,” according to the RNC and the NCGOP’s court filing.
The law, which aims to strengthen voter ID, allow for poll watchers and tighten the deadline to return mail-in ballots, was enacted on Oct. 10 after the state’s GOP-controlled state legislature voted to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto.
Moments after Republicans voted to override the veto, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the state’s Democratic Party filed a lawsuit claiming that the law is “a direct assault on the ‘most fundamental’ right to vote” and leads to “vote suppression.”
The RNC argues that the Democrats’ lawsuit against the state election board underscores the Biden campaign and the DNC’s strategy to loosen “common-sense” election laws ahead of the 2024 election.
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Fox News Digital that President Biden is “directing his political operation to sue state legislators for passing good laws.”
“Joe Biden should be focused on solving the crises that have erupted under his watch, not directing his political operation to sue state legislators for passing good laws,” McDaniel said.
Since taking office, President Biden’s Department of Justice has filed lawsuits challenging voting laws in Arizona, Georgia and Texas.
Republicans say that the Democratic plaintiffs are “armed with hyperbole and mischaracterization” and “far-reaching assertions” in their claims that SB 747 violates the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act.
The Democratic plaintiffs say that they are not aware of “any instances of actual voter fraud” in North Carolina and claim that the state is “indulging the dubious assumption that the measures would deter or prevent such fraud.”
