More than 70,000 voters will stay on North Carolina voter rolls after settlement

Source: NBC News

Feb. 16, 2026, 7:38 PM EST


More than 73,000 North Carolinians will be given more time to show identifying documentation to election officials to remain on the state's voter rolls following a settlement between the national parties and the state's election board. The settlement, which lays out the ways in which the state will collect the required proof of identity for the voter list, was signed by the Democratic and Republican parties Monday and sent federal court for approval.

The Republican National Committee and North Carolina GOP sued state election officials in 2024, alleging a quarter million voters had been improperly registered because their registrations did not include the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers or an attestation that they had neither.

Republicans asked to have the voters' registrations removed and the ballots they had cast tossed out in a pair of lawsuits. The Democratic National Committee intervened in the suit on behalf of state election officials.

“This latest victory is a win for Americans and yet another blow to the Republicans’ scheme to disenfranchise voters ahead of the midterm elections,” DNC chair Ken Martin said in a statement after the settlement.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/north-carolina-voter-id-dnc-rnc-settlement-registration-rcna258986