GOP voting rule sending ballots to the trash after backers insisted it wouldn't: report

Thousands of North Carolina mail ballots are on track to be rejected over technical errors after a federal judge upheld strict new Republican-backed rules, according to data shared with Democracy Docket.Common Cause North Carolina and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice compiled figures from 27 of the state’s 100 counties. They show a rejection rate of about 3 percent, double the 2022 rate, and as high as 7-8 percent in Democratic strongholds Mecklenburg and Forsyth. In Guilford County, over 2 percent of ballots in recent weeks were tossed solely because voters didn’t properly seal the new inner envelope. Wake and Durham are at 2.5 percent. In tiny Alexander County, 6.67 percent were spoiled as of October 6.Democracy Docket estimates 3,942 ballots would be rejected statewide at a 3 percent rate, a figure based on 2022 volume adjusted for a drop in requests. Some rejections stem from other causes. Voters can...