North Carolina’s constitution requires that voters be residents of the state. But a state statute currently in place violates this requirement, opening the door for individuals who have never resided in the state to vote, a newly filed lawsuit alleges.
Congress established the Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) in 1986, permitting military service members and select other overseas citizens to register and vote in federal elections. North Carolina also has its own Uniform Military and Overseas Act (UMOVA).
Under UMOVA, a voter who was born outside of the country and has never resided in the state is still eligible to vote if “the last place where a parent or legal guardian of the voter was, or under this Article would have been, eligible to vote before leaving the United States is within [North Carolina].”
But a suit filed Wednesday by Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE) alleges that the statute ignores the state constitution’s “unambiguous requirement of residency” and “purports to extend voter qualifications to certain individuals not covered by UOCAVA and who do not and have never resided in North Carolina.”
According to the North Carolina constitution, “[a]ny person who has resided in the State of North Carolina for one year and in the precinct, ward, or other election district for 30 days next preceding an election, and possesses the other qualifications set out in this Article, shall be entitled to vote at any election held in this State.”
Plaintiffs suggest that the language of
