Voting rights activists are threatening to sue North Carolina for failing to adhere to federal registration law.

Attorneys for Action NC, Democracy North Carolina, the North Carolina A. Philip Randolph Institute, and North Carolina residents forwarded a pre-litigation notice letter on Monday to State Board of Elections Executive Director Kim Strach, N.C. Secretary of Transportation Tony Tata and Commissioner of Motor Vehicles Kelly Thomas alleging that the state Department of Motor Vehicles isn’t meeting voter registration obligations set by the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. The legislation, commonly known as the “Motor Voter Law,” requires voter registration services whenever a resident applies for, renews, or changes their address on a driver’s license or state-issued identification card. DMVs are then required to transmit the information to the appropriate election official within 10 days, or five days if the change of information is within five days of the close of registration.

“Voters who either registered to vote or updated their voter information through the DMV are routinely being told that they are not on the rolls when they go to the polls to vote,” said Bob Hall, Executive Director of Democracy North Carolina. “They are being cheated out of their right to vote.”

The letter was sent three weeks after activists notified North Carolina that it was in violation of NVRA requiring the state to provide public assistance clients the opportunity to register to vote. The letter gives state officials notice that it’s failed to comply with the federal statute, starting a 90-day window to comply or face litigation.

“Transmittal problems are not limited to an office or geographic region,” said Stuart Naifeh, counsel at Demos, one of the groups threatening the suit. “The problem is systemic—it’s occurring across the State and affecting voters of all political persuasions. North Carolina needs to take immediate steps to make sure that its citizens are not being disenfranchised as a result of errors by the DMV or election officials.”

According to the letter sent to state officials, in the 2014 general election, citizens who thought they had registered to vote at DMV were forced to cast provisional ballots because their names were not on registration rolls. In Mecklenburg County, out of nearly 880 provisional ballots cast, 157 were cast by voters who said they registered at the DMV.

“As an organization that’s dedicated to increasing the number of individuals registered and engaging in the political process, we are clearly troubled by the fact the voters across the state are going to the polls, ready to participate, and being forced to vote provisionally,” said Pat McCoy, Action NC’s executive director. “The voices of these voters are often completely silenced because the fact that the voter registered or updated their information with the DMV cannot be verified.” 

Sherry Holverson, a qualified voter who changed her registration information at a DMV office after moving, said she was given a provisional ballot at an early voting site after being told her name was not on the registration rolls. The provisional ballot was ultimately not counted.  

“You do everything right, and it doesn’t make a difference,” Holverson said.   

Information provided by the state in response to records requests showed that in more than half of North Carolina’s 100 counties, voters who cast provisional ballots in the 2014 election because their names didn’t show up on the rolls had registered through DMV.  

“Clearly there is a major breakdown in the DMV voter registration process,” said Allison Riggs, a senior attorney at Southern Coalition. “The DMV’s transmittal system is archaic and inefficient: it requires that voter registration applications be transmitted both in paper and electronic form before an individual’s name is added to the rolls. Establishing clear, streamlined procedures and improving training will help the DMV meet its NVRA obligations.”

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