(The Center Square) – Actions of the state Board of Elections in North Carolina are being investigated by the Committee on the Judiciary of the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio. 

This is after the board denied ballot access to three political parties, even though each exceeded the number of signatures required to qualify.

In a letter from the Judiciary Committee and the House Administration Committee, which is also investigating the decision, the lawmakers stated they are seeking more “documents and information” about the decision.

“The Committee on House Administration and the Committee on the Judiciary are concerned that the NCSBE’s decision was politically motivated and may have been done to influence the 2024 presidential election by limiting the candidates for which voters may cast their ballots,” wrote Jordan and Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wisconsin.

Steil is chairman of the House Administration Committee.

The three parties support Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel West, and Randall Terry for the 2024 presidential race.

The parties each submitted more than the 13,865 votes required to appear on the ballot, according to records from the state’s Board of Elections.

While they were first denied access to the ballot last week, the committee said before the federal investigation was even open that they would reconsider the issue again in July.

The letter from the federal committees says the decision was made based on the “political motivations” of the members of the board, pointing out that the three Democrats on the board all voted against the petition requests. 

“For example,” the letter says. “In its denial of one petition, the Democrat members voted to block the petition simply because the address of the party’s chairman was not up to date on the petition sheets.”

Both Republicans on the board voted in favor of approving the petition.

The federal committees were not the first to react negatively to the board’s decision, which faced widespread backlash.

The Libertarian Party of North Carolina released a statement supporting the petitions from the other three underdog parties, calling the decision “election interference.”

“The Libertarian Party of North Carolina (@LPNC) is deeply disappointed, though hardly surprised, with the North Carolina State Board of Elections (@NCSBE) decision yesterday to limit the choices of the people of North Carolina in keeping the We the People Party, the Constitution Party, and the Justice for All Party off the ballot in North Carolina,” it posted on X. “We resoundingly reject this partisan and anti-American decision that mocks the concept of democracy and destroys any pretense of representative government.”

If the decision is not reversed soon, the candidates will miss the deadline to appear on the ballot in November.

Because of this, the federal committees requested the board respond to their request by Monday so they can “conduct oversight” and avoid any undue “influence” or “sway” the board is attempting to have over the election in North Carolina.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina state senator who helped lead a powerful committee has resigned days after the General Assembly completed this year’s primary work session.

The resignation of Republican Sen. Jim Perry of Lenoir County was effective Tuesday, according to a letter he sent Monday to the Senate Principal Clerk’s Office.

Perry, who was a co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and a majority whip, already was not seeking Senate reelection this fall. And he delivered a farewell address to his colleagues on the Senate floor last Thursday.

Perry was appointed to the Senate in early 2019, replacing the retiring Sen. Louis Pate. He’s represented Beaufort, Craven and Lenoir counties.

“It is a special privilege to serve in the North Carolina Senate,” Perry wrote Monday. “I am appreciative of those who sacrificed their time to help me to gain a little more knowledge on each day of this journey.”

Perry announced last December that he wouldn’t run, saying he couldn’t make the time commitment necessary to be an effective senator for another two-year term.

“I am entering a season of life where I will need more time to support those closest to me,” he said at the time.

Republican activists in Perry’s 2nd Senate District will choose someone to fill his seat for the remainder of his term through the end of the year. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is obliged by state law to appoint their choice.

Republican Bob Brinson and Democrat Charles Dudley already are running in November for the same Senate seat in the heavily GOP area, although it will be renamed the 3rd District.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Gov. Roy Cooper broke ground Monday on a new high-speed rail line that will link Raleigh to Richmond, marking the project’s first phase, which includes constructing a bridge to carry Durant Road over a railroad line.  

The $1.3 billion project funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is the largest grant ever received by the NC Department of Transportation. It will provide passenger service between downtown Raleigh and Wake Forest by 2030 and is the first leg of a planned high-speed rail connection between Raleigh, Richmond, Virginia, and the Northeast.  

“This is the beginning of a new chapter in passenger rail in North Carolina and really one of the biggest projects that we’re supporting anywhere in the country,” Buttigieg told reporters.  

The stop marked the first on Buttigieg’s national summer construction tour. He will visit Winston-Salem on Tuesday where he will participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for the Salem Parkway multi-use path. Buttigieg will then return to Durham, which recently received a $12 million federal grant to improve 33 downtown intersections.  

Cooper highlighted the role of passenger rail in improving connectivity and reducing carbon emissions during Monday’s ceremony. “It helps reduce carbon emissions and helps us to save our planet as well as providing a great opportunity for people to get from one place to the next in a better way,” said Cooper.  

“We know cutting down travel times in that arena is going to make it even better for our economy and make it better for the people in North Carolina,” Cooper said.   

The Raleigh-to-Richmond rail project will use the existing S-Line rail corridor, a freight rail corridor currently owned by CSX. Virginia has already acquired its portion of the line, and North Carolina officials are finalizing a deal to purchase the corridor in our state. 

In May, the White House announced that it has allocated nearly $454 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to over 56,000 projects around the country since the passage of the $1 trillion bill in 2021. 

North Carolina is set to receive $9.4 billion in funding from the law for 512 projects, according to the White House. The funding includes about $633 million for clean water projects, with $175 million going toward replacing toxic lead pipes, according to a fact sheet released by the White House in May.   

“North Carolina has done very well in investments from the federal government with this bipartisan infrastructure legislation,” said Cooper. “I’m so grateful that President Biden got this and other major pieces of legislation through that really are generational investments that will help our children and our children’s children.”