Judge Nicole Berner, who was nominated by President Biden to the Fourth Circuit court of appeals, wrote a unanimous opinion that reversed a lower court and ruled that an effort by the Republican National Committee (RNC) and other Republicans to purge some 225,000 voters form voter rolls before the November election should remain in federal court and not be sent to state court as the Republicans had requested. The October 2024 decision was in RNC v North Carolina State Board of Elections.
What happened in this case?
The RNC and the Republican state party filed suit in North Carolina state court in late August against the state board of elections, claiming that the board should purge some 225,000 voters from the state voter rolls. They asserted that these voters had used a state registration form that violated federal law because it did not clearly indicate that registrants should list their drivers’ license numbers or last four digits of their social security numbers, and these registrants did not do so. The complaint maintained that the Board’s conduct violated federal and state law and the state constitution,
The board, joined by the Democratic National Committee which had intervened in the case, removed the case to federal district court. The court granted a motion to dismiss the statutory claims but declined to exercise jurisdiction over the state constitutional equal protection claim, and sent the state constitutional claim back to state court. The DNC and the state election board appealed to the Fourth Circuit.
How did Judge Berner and the Fourth Circuit rule and why is it important?
Judge Berner wrote a unanimous opinion that reversed the court ruling below concerning the state constitutional claim. The court ruled that the district court in fact had jurisdiction over the state constitutional claim and sent the case back to the court below to consider that issue.
Judge Berner carefully analyzed the record in the case and the applicable law. She explained that the lower court did have jurisdiction of the case and should not have remanded it for two reasons. Initially, the case involved an “embedded” federal question as to whether the state board’s decision not to remove the contested voters from the rolls violated federal law, which made removal proper. In addition, she went on, the case was validly removed because it involved the state board’s refusal to purge registered voters that would violate federal law, since removing them at that late date would contravene the National Voter Registration Act’s prohibition against removing voters within ninety days of a federal election.
Judge Berner’s opinion is obviously important to those who continue to resist Republican efforts to purge 225,000 voters from North Carolina rolls. In fact, these voters were not removed before the November election. It may also be useful in helping respond to other rightwing efforts to remove voters from the rolls in North Carolina and elsewhere. In addition, the decision serves as a reminder of the importance of confirming fair-minded judges to our federal courts.