NC Board of Elections faces political, legal scrutiny over denial of Cornel West’s party

The North Carolina Board of Elections is under scrutiny from the state legislature and supporters of Cornel West after the third-party candidate’s party Justice for All was denied ballot access.

The board of elections was sued on July 22 by Cornel West supporters after a 3-2 vote denied the Justice for All party. The lawsuit, spearheaded by Fayetteville-area Justice for All petition signee plaintiffs Johnny Thomas Ortiz II, Jimmie Gregory Rogers Jr. and Weldon Murphy, calls for the court to require Justice for All’s party nominee to appear on the November ballot. The plaintiffs are asking for a decision to be made by Aug. 19. Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP will represent the plaintiffs.

At the same time, the state’s House committee on oversight and reform held a hearing on the board’s actions on Tuesday.

West, 71, is an activist and author who is working to achieve ballot access nationally.

The party he planned to run under was denied on July 16 after an internal board of elections investigation looked into concerns over possibly fraudulent signatures, despite the party submitting about 3,000 more signatures than necessary to gain ballot access.

The concerns mounted after letters from the North Carolina Democratic Party and Clear Choice Action called into question the party's legitimacy.

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Another issue arose as to whether West was side-stepping the ballot access process by petitioning as a party and not as an unaffiliated candidate, which requires thousands more signatures. Additionally, it was questioned whether signees were properly informed on the intent of the party. 

"Both candidates, Kennedy and West, by their actions have demonstrated that their purpose is to get on various state's ballots by any means necessary with no regard to the particulars of the political party," Democratic board of elections member Siobhan O’Duffy Millen said during a board meeting.

Co-Chair of the House reform and oversight committee Rep. Jake Johnson, R-Polk, said before the meeting that the party completed the necessary statutes to be approved.

“The requirements political parties must meet to be recognized are outlined in statute,” Johnson said in an email statement from his legislative office. “We’re not going to move the goal posts to keep them off the ballot after they’ve met those requirements.”

The committee’s hearing went on for hours Tuesday, with questioning stretching past petition validity and into election integrity and concerns over non-citizen voting.

The board’s process for investigating the fraud claims was flawed, some committee members stated.

The survey they conducted by calling signees and interviewing some was not “statistically valid,” said Rep. George G. Cleveland, R-Onslow.

Alan Hirsch, chairman of the board of elections, said during the hearing that it was not a “statistically perfect” look into the petition signees, adding that the timeframe was short and a lack of compliance for subpoena from an independent petition gatherer did not help.

Johnson ended the meeting with a stamp of concern, calling for more transparency from the board of elections.

“I think there is inherent problem with groups with a vested interest trying to weigh in on who their opponents will get to be in November and trying to sway board members,” Johnson said, noting an outside group with Democratic ties catapulted the board’s investigation into the third parties.

“I’m sure there will be a follow-up,” Johnson said, without noting clear next steps.

Other third parties, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s We the People party and the Constitution Party, were recognized and North Carolinians can register under them for the general election.

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This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: NC Board of Elections sued over denial of Cornel West political party