North Carolina’s State Board of Elections has announced the removal of 747,000 people from its voter registration list over the past 20 months. According to the board, most of those removed were found ineligible due to reasons such as moving within the state without updating their registration or not participating in the last two federal elections, which led to their status being marked as inactive. This will be seen as a huge victory for former President Donald Trump and Republicans in general who have been pushing for more stringent voter integrity.
Additional reasons for removal included death, felony convictions, moves out of state, and personal requests for removal, the board noted. North Carolina is a pivotal swing state likely to influence the outcome of the presidential race between Vice President Harris and former President Trump. Historically, only one Democrat—former President Obama in 2008—has won the state in a presidential election, though Harris has been polling competitively against Trump. The state also features a contentious gubernatorial race between Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson and Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein, The Hill reported.
The purge of voter rolls comes shortly after North Carolina Republicans filed a lawsuit alleging that the state had not addressed complaints about ineligible individuals remaining on the voter lists. The lawsuit, filed by a Wake County resident, claimed that voter registration forms in the county did not include required information such as driver’s license and Social Security numbers, the outlet added.
“By failing to collect certain statutorily required information prior to registering these applicants to vote, Defendants placed the integrity of the state’s elections into jeopardy,” the GOP lawsuit read. Republicans also recently filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s approval of digital IDs issued by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a valid form of voter identification, a claim that was dismissed by a local judge. The state now has approximately 7.7 million registered voters.
Republicans recently got good news in another major battleground state. Luzerne County, a longstanding Democratic bastion in Pennsylvania, has officially shifted to Republican control for the first time in over 40 years. Data released Monday by the Pennsylvania Department of State reveals that Republicans now have a narrow voter registration edge in this pivotal battleground county, and it’s great news for former President Donald Trump.
The latest figures show the GOP with 87,415 registered voters compared to 87,332 Democrats, giving the Republicans a slim lead of just 83 voters, as reported by WVIA. With a total of 203,321 registered voters in the county, there remains a substantial group of 28,574 voters who are either unaffiliated or aligned with minor parties. This includes 22,414 voters with no party affiliation and 6,160 registered with minor parties.
Though the margin is narrow, this shift highlights a trend that’s been emerging over recent election cycles. Despite Luzerne County’s long-standing Democratic dominance, it became a crucial stronghold for former President Trump, who won the county in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. The county’s transition is now seen as a bellwether for upcoming elections in Pennsylvania.
GOP activist Scott Pressler, who has been working feverishly to register Republican voters in Pennsylvania, made the historic announcement on the X platform. “We did it! Luzerne County has flipped red, and this is huge,” wrote Scott Presler on X, a Republican organizer. “Thank you to every single volunteer who worked tirelessly to make this happen.”
WE DID IT!
IT IS DONE!
We flipped Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, from ???.
This is monumental, earth-shattering, ground shaking news.
Thank you to EVERY single volunteer that contributed to this victory!
— ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) September 23, 2024
Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.