Members of a Republican-led congressional committee want more details about why the North Carolina State Elections Board is excluding third-party candidates from the ballot in November's presidential election.
Three candidates running as alternatives to Democrat Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump are petitioning the North Carolina Board of Elections to recognize their parties and have their names placed on the state's ballot. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. represents the We the People Party; Cornel West represents the Justice for All Party; and Randall Terry represents the Constitution Party.
The committee's Democratic majority last week blocked a motion by their Republican colleagues to put the three on a vote, arguing they needed more time to consider the petitions. The move drew backlash from Republicans, including state Republicans and the Republican National Committee, who accused the committee's Democratic majority of trying to protect Biden.
On Monday, the Republican chairmen of the House Administration and House Judiciary committees asked the State Election Commission to provide documents and other information related to the board's decision.
Jordan and Steele have asked state elections board leaders to submit the paperwork by Monday, July 8, at 5 p.m.
While third-party candidates would take votes away from both Biden and Trump, some polls suggest a third-party candidate in North Carolina would do more harm to the Biden campaign, as candidates look to gain an advantage in the close Tar Heel State, where Trump beat Biden by fewer than 75,000 votes in 2020.
Cox also said the board intends to clear up any misunderstandings. The letter said the board's decision “will prevent some otherwise qualified candidates from getting on the ballot in the November election,” but Cox said that's not necessarily true. The State Board of Elections chose to continue reviewing the ballot petitions but not reject them outright.
The committee “will further review these petitions later this month to determine whether the new party candidates meet the certification requirements of state law,” Cox told WRAL. “No final decisions have been made regarding the Constitution Party, Justice for All Party or People's Party.”
Board members raised different issues with each petition.
Democrats on the State Board of Elections expressed concern that the We the People Party was seeking certification just to get Kennedy on the ballot, circumventing state law on individual candidates, which makes it harder for individual candidates to get on the ballot in North Carolina than it is for new political parties.
Board members questioned We the People representatives about a letter distributed to volunteers that said the purpose of the petition was to found a new political party and get Kennedy's name on the North Carolina ballot.
Officials pointed out that the party petition should be signed by people who want to assert their common beliefs.
Meanwhile, the Constitutional Party's petition has been stalled over technical issues.
State law requires political party petitions to include a valid address, and the group's petition listed the address of the former residence of state party Chairman Al Pisano.
Pisano told officials he wasn't sure if he needed to change his address. The party ran in North Carolina in 2020. The party's presidential candidate, Don Blankenship, won 7,549 votes out of 5.5 million votes cast.
Pisano said he had previously inquired about the address issue to election commission officials but had not received a response. Commission members postponed their decision on the Constitution Party to review records exchanged between Pisano and commission officials.
Democrat council member Siobhan Millen said that before the address issue arose she expected the party's petition would “probably be very successful”.