North Carolina Court Requires Cross-Referencing of Jury Records with Voter Rolls for Election Integrity

RALEIGH — A North Carolina judge has approved a consent judgment requiring the State Board of Elections to systematically cross-reference jury duty exemption records — where individuals self-identify as non-citizens — against the state’s voter rolls, marking a significant election integrity victory for the Republican National Committee and North Carolina Republican Party.

Wake County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Bedford accepted the agreement on May 20-21, 2026, resolving a 2024 lawsuit filed by the RNC and NC GOP against the State Board of Elections. The settlement mandates a formalized process for using jury questionnaire responses to identify and address potential non-citizen registrations.

Under the judgment, clerks of Superior Court across North Carolina must provide quarterly lists of individuals who requested exemption from jury duty by claiming non-citizen status. The State Board of Elections is then required to:

• Review each person’s voter registration and citizenship status.
• Distribute reports to county boards of elections for further action, including potential removal from voter rolls.
• Make the lists publicly available on its website (with appropriate redactions for privacy).
• Refer cases where non-citizens are suspected of having voted to the State Bureau of Investigation and district attorneys for possible prosecution.

The agreement runs through 2028 and builds on existing North Carolina law (Session Law 2023-140) that already requires tracking such jury exemptions. Republicans had sued, alleging the State Board was not adequately enforcing the law.

RNC Chairman Joe Gruters called the outcome “a major win for election integrity,” stating it ensures self-admitted non-citizens are not improperly registered to vote. North Carolina Republican Party leaders echoed that the process promotes accuracy without disenfranchising eligible voters.

The development addresses long-standing concerns about non-citizen voting in the battleground state. While audits have generally found non-citizen voting to be rare, the new formalized cross-checking process aims to prevent it proactively and increase public confidence.

The consent judgment ends the lawsuit without a full trial and was reached with input from the State Board. Opponents, including some Democratic-aligned groups, had raised concerns about potential overreach and impacts on naturalized citizens or mixed-status households, but the court-approved deal includes safeguards and public transparency requirements.

This ruling strengthens voter roll maintenance efforts in North Carolina ahead of the 2026 midterms and could serve as a model for other states seeking to use existing government records for election integrity purposes.