February 24, 2026
It’s another Take Action Tuesday from the ICCV Legislative Committee, and our primary focus this week remains voting – in this case, protecting the right of North Carolinians to vote. This week’s alert is a bit different and slightly longer than usual, as this is a complex and very important issue in our state. If you have questions, feel free to e-mail us at iccvlegislation@gmail.com We will do our best to find answers.
The Republican controlled North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) is currently accepting public comments on four (4) proposed rules governing challenges to voter registration based on citizenship.These proposed rules purport to “fix” a problem that is vanishingly rare and do so at a great cost. Non-citizens should not vote. Citizens who meet the requirements for voting should not be prevented from doing so. The rules would jeopardize the ability of many of us to vote by using flawed databases and by not allowing sufficient time to resolve a “challenge” to our right.
WHAT TO DO
The NCSBE is accepting written public comments now through March 16, 2026. There will also be a public hearing on March 9, 2026 at 10:00 am at the Dobbs Building in Raleigh. We recommend you go to the NCSBE website at https://www.ncsbe.gov/about-elections/legal-resources/rulemaking?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email#list_maintenance and review the proposed rules. There is a lot of legalese there, so we will attempt to explain some of the issues below in WHY THIS MATTERS.
You may find the following statements helpful in your Comments or in communication with lawmakers (See the Section Below, “HOW TO DO IT” to register these concerns):
- Voting by non-citizens is extraordinarily rare (but is and should be illegal and prevented)
- Voting by qualified citizens should be protected. These proposed rules jeopardize that right for many citizens.
- Databases used for flagging “potential non-citizens” should be specifically noted in the Rules and should be known to be accurate. The SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) database is flawed.
- No voter should be removed from voting rolls within 90 days of an election. The period the Rules specify for resolving a “challenge” is too compressed.
Since there are continued attempts at voter suppression and intimidation at the Federal level, continue calling your Senators to tell them to vote NO on the SAVE America Act. Feel free to also call your congressperson to express your displeasure that the House passed this horrific bill.
If you haven’t voted in the primary already, remember to do so. Early voting runs through February 28. Primary election day is March 3.
HOW TO DO IT
Submit a WRITTEN comment to the NCSBE objecting to the proposed rules before March 16 by any of the following mechanisms:
● Online: Public Comment Portal: 2026 List Maintenance Rules Review
● Email: rulemaking.sboe@ncsbe.gov (Note: Commenter should identify the specific rule being commented on.)
● Mail: Attn: Rulemaking Coordinator, P.O. Box 27255, Raleigh, NC 27611-7255 (Note: Commenter should identify the specific rule being commented on.)
Please feel free to share this information with your family and friends.
When calling your representatives about the SAVE America act, you can find information and scripts at https://5calls.org/issue/save-act-voter-suppression/
- Senator Thom Tillis: (202) 224-6342
- Senator Ted Budd: (202) 224-3154
- Representative Pat Harrigan: (202) 225-2576
- Representative Virginia Foxx: (202) 225-2071
To find and contact your state legislators, go to
https://www.ncleg.gov/FindYourLegislators
Enter your home address to link to contacts for your NC Senator and Representative.
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT
The NCSBE is attempting to fix a problem that does not exist. In the most comprehensive study of this issue, their own audit following the 2016 election, 4.8 million ballots were reviewed and only 41 non-citizen votes, or less than 1/1000 of a percent, were identified.
The NCSBE has requested proposals and is soliciting information from potential vendors for updated elections management systems. It is premature and unnecessary to pass permanent rules based on inaccurate data when the state is in the process of hiring professional vendors. A more reasoned approach would be software that recognizes name changes and typographical errors, which would save taxpayers millions in costs for administrative hearings. The federal SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) database was not designed to manage voter rolls and has been shown to be astonishingly inaccurate in identifying non-citizen voting.
**Please note that the SAVE database is not the same as the SAVE America Act which is still awaiting a vote in the Senate. Leave it to the federal government to use the same acronym for two different things.
These rules would make voting, which is a RIGHT, not a PRIVILEGE, much more difficult for U. S. citizens whose name does not match the name on their birth certificate, i.e. married women who took their spouse’s last name. Again, fixing a problem that does not exist by making voting more burdensome for individuals who do not have a passport (currently $130 or more for first time applicants), or who cannot otherwise “prove” citizenship. Below, refer to paragraph 6, “Documentation of Citizenship,” and imagine how many North Carolinians may be denied the right to vote because of flawed software at the federal level, lack of available documentation, or cost prohibitive documentation requirements.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/dl.ncsbe.gov/Legal/Rules/2026%20Proposed%20Rules/08%20NCAC%2023%20.0101.pdf
The time frames for response to these challenges are short, and in many instances, voters may not receive the “snail mail” notice with enough time to respond. County boards have access to e-mail and phone contact information for voters. This would seem to be a more reliable and timely method of notification.
The NCSBE is working to suppress voting. These efforts include 70,000 voters on the registration repair project (missing ID numbers), over 200,000 voters who recently received letters that their ID numbers do not match other databases, students who were denied on-campus early voting sites, districts denied Sunday voting during early voting, and now attempts to challenge the citizenship of voters. Voters already sign an attestation of citizenship. These rules are unnecessary at best.
Thank you for everything you do to protect our democracy!
ICCV Legislative Committee
“With Liberty and Justice for ALL”