North Carolina appeals court rejects RNC's challenge to overseas ballots
A North Carolina appeals court on Tuesday rejected a Republican-led effort to block ballots cast by overseas voters unless they could provide additional proof of their residency in the state.
The Republican National Committee sued the North Carolina State Board of Elections earlier this month over a policy that allows voters living abroad to cast their ballot in the state if their parents previously lived in North Carolina, even if the voter never resided in the state themselves.
A trial judge last week denied the RNC's request to stop the policy, and their appeal of that decision was unanimously rejected by a panel of three judges on the North Carolina Court of Appeals Tuesday.
The Republican National Committee -- joined by the state party and two voters -- argued that the policy "flies in the face of the state constitution" by allowing non-residents to participate in the state’s elections.
"North Carolina has notoriously close elections," the lawsuit said. "Now more than ever, counting every legitimate vote from every eligible voter -- and only legitimate votes from eligible voters -- matters."
The North Carolina State Board of Elections highlighted that the policy has been in place for over a decade without issue, arguing the injunction requested by the RNC would "disenfranchise an entire class of lawful voters."
"Petitioners’ petition represents an unwarranted and unprecedented effort to disrupt an ongoing election by throwing countless voters’ duly cast ballots into question with no actual proof of any problem with them," the state said in their filing.
The case is yet another legal setback for Republicans, who lost a similar case in Pennsylvania earlier Tuesday.
-ABC News' Peter Charalambous
