North Carolina
Voter fraud case before NC Supreme Court may determine how much power state election officials have
RALEIGH, N.C (AP) — North Carolina’s highest court could determine whether election officials retain special legal privileges that allow them to defame individual voters and set a precedent for how voter fraud claims are pursued.
The North Carolina Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments Thursday morning for Bouvier v. Porter — a suit that has lingered in state courts over the past seven years. The case centers around four voters from Guilford and Brunswick County who claim they were defamed by supporters of former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory in the aftermath of the 2016 election.
By a margin of 10,277 votes, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper beat McCrory in the 2016 gubernatorial election. Afterward, McCrory supporters filed election protest petitions declaring voting irregularities had occurred, including accusations from Greensboro Republican official William Porter.
The election protests accused four people of voting twice in Guilford County, according to the plaintiffs’ 2017 lawsuit. Porter’s petition against three Guilford voters was dismissed for “lack of any evidence presented” and one protest in Brunswick County was withdrawn, according to an appeals court opinion.
The plaintiffs claimed they were defamed by Porter’s petition and sought $25,000 in damages, the complaint says.
It’s not clear if the case will be decided before the 2024 election, according to one of the plaintiffs’ lawyers.
More defendants were named in an amended complaint later that year, including law firm Holtzman Vogel Josefiak Torchinsky and the Pat McCrory Committee Legal Defense Fund. Another plaintiff from Brunswick County was also added to the case when one of the original voters voluntarily left the case, according to the amended complaint.
But the case before the N.C. Supreme Court won’t determine if the allegations defamed the voters. Instead, it focuses on whether the defendants had a form of immunity known as absolute privilege to make those claims.
Absolute privilege is a legal term used in defamation cases to outline circumstances where someone is shielded from liability for potentially defamatory statements. The privilege is typically granted in judicial and legislative proceedings.
A North Carolina appeals court gave plaintiffs a partial victory in 2021 by ruling that McCrory’s legal fund and the law firm did not have absolute privilege. They did rule, however, that Porter was granted the privilege because he operated within a “quasi-judicial election protest proceeding.”
But the defendants are arguing to the state Supreme Court bench that they should all have immunity. By not granting absolute privilege to all those involved, it prevents people concerned about elections from speaking “freely and fearlessly,” the brief read.
Bob Hunter, an attorney for the Pat McCrory Committee Legal Defense Fund, declined The Associated Press’ request for comment.
The defendants didn’t function in a capacity that would grant them absolute privilege, as they “ghostwrote” the petitions for others to sign off on, plaintiff attorney and chief counsel for the Southern Coalition for Social Justice Jeff Loperfido said. If the N.C. Supreme Court sides with the defendants, he said voter fraud allegations may be used to deter voters or sow distrust in state electoral systems.
“It’s really about the fundamental right to vote and about whether individuals, North Carolina citizens, can be used as political pawns in this way and have their names tarnished without consequences,” said Loperfido, who joined the case in 2018.
Much has changed since the appeals ruling. One of the plaintiffs, Karen Niehans, died in early 2023, which caused her defamation claim to be dismissed, Loperfido said. The remaining plaintiffs are retirees, he said.
The N.C. Supreme Court’s makeup has also shifted since the appellate decision to comprise of five Republicans and two Democrats — both of whom had to recuse themselves after previously working as attorneys for the plaintiffs.
But a panel of all Republican judges doesn’t concern Loperfido because he views the case as nonpartisan.
“This could have been any losing candidate’s campaign effort to try to create enough smoke to delay certification or try to encourage the state board of election to review these protests in a certain way,” he said.
Now, both parties will await a decision after oral arguments conclude. Loperfido says that could take about six months, depending on whether the court wants to release an opinion after the 2024 election.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Home sales in western North Carolina have increased since last year, according to the latest report from a realtor group.
Canopy MLS, a subsidiary of the Canopy Realtor Association, reports that May home sales across the four-county Asheville area (Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, and Madison counties) reflected a spring market that remains “active and competitive.”
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A total of 592 homes closed in May, representing a 6.3 percent increase compared to May 2025 and a 2.1 percent gain over April, the report said. Buyer demand continued to strengthen, with pending sales, a leading indicator of future closings, surging 22.4 percent year over year as 728 properties went under contract during the month.
“The strength of buyer demand in May is encouraging and reflects continued confidence in the Asheville region as a place to live, work and invest,” said Dave Noyes, a Realtor/Designated Managing Broker with eXp Realty and Canopy MLS Board of Director, in a news release. “
ASHEVILLE HOUSING MARKET SHOWS STEADY STRENGTH AS INVENTORY RISES ACROSS REGION
Contract activity also increased 7.1 percent compared to April, signaling that buyers remained engaged despite mortgage rates averaging approximately 6.5 percent throughout May, the report said.
“Buyers are adapting to today’s mortgage rates and taking advantage of the increased inventory we’ve seen over the past year. Although fewer new listings came onto the market in May, homes continue to attract strong interest, which is helping maintain a healthy balance between supply and demand as we head into the summer months,” Noyes said.
While buyer activity increased , new listing activity moderated. Sellers introduced 1,165 homes to the market in May, a 6.7 percent decline compared to the same month last year and a 7.7 percent decrease from April. Even so, the region’s inventory of homes for sale continued to expand, rising 3.2 percent year over year to 3,092 properties at report time. Months of supply, however, declined from six months in May 2025 to 5.4 months this past May, suggesting that the pace of buyer demand is absorbing available inventory faster than new listings are being added.
The report said that although buyers have more choices than a year ago, the market remains relatively balanced, with strong contract activity continuing to support overall sales momentum.
AVERY COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — Former Madison County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Bronis Coy Phillips was processed on Thursday, June 25, in a North Carolina county, according to court documents.
The warrants were served in Avery County on behalf of Madison County. He is now being held without bond, according to the court paperwork.
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The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation announced that Phillips was arrested on June 14 in Maricopa County, Arizona. He’s expected to face charges in N.C., as News 13 previously reported.
According to court records, Phillips faces multiple felony charges, including:
- Furnishing controlled substances to inmates
- Furnishing deadly weapons to inmates
- Involuntary servitude
- Two counts of assault with a firearm on a detention facility employee
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He was also charged with two misdemeanors:
- Furnishing alcoholic beverages to inmates
- Furnishing tobacco products to inmates
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The NCSBI said the charges stem from an investigation into alleged criminal activity involving inmates and detention facility staff.
North Carolina and NC State, scheduled to meet just once in the men’s basketball regular season for the second consecutive season, are working to schedule a nonconference meeting in Greensboro in December, WRAL has learned.
The Atlantic Coast Conference rivals had played annual games in Raleigh and in Chapel Hill for more than 100 years before last season when the teams met just once in Raleigh. This season, the ACC scheduled just one meeting between the schools in Chapel Hill.
The additional meeting, which is not finalized, would be played Dec. 15 in Greensboro, according to a source.
The 18-team ACC moved from 20 conference games to 18 before last season in an attempt to improve the league’s NCAA Tournament credentials. It worked as the league received eight bids to the NCAA Tournament in 2026, but it also created some scheduling changes, including the elimination of a second game between NC State and UNC in most seasons.
The current conference schedule dictates that each school plays two teams twice (a primary partner and a variable partner), plays 14 teams once and misses one school altogether. In 2026-27, UNC will play Duke (primary) and Louisville (variable) twice and won’t play Clemson. NC State will play Wake Forest (primary) and California (variable) twice and won’t play Syracuse.
Greensboro was the longtime home of the conference office. The ACC men’s basketball tournament has been held at First Horizon Coliseum, formerly the Greensboro Coliseum, 29 times – the most in league history.
For decades, the ACC played a true round robin among its members — a format that became unworkable as the league grew to 12, 15 and, now, 18 basketball-playing schools.
State lawmakers have pursued various measures to force schools in the UNC System to play each other, citing the economic impact of such meetings. North Carolina and NC State are UNC System schools.
A 2024 bill would have required the two ACC schools to play each other and other in-state public universities in football and basketball. A 2025 bill, aimed at potential conference realignment, would have required that NC State and UNC play each annually in football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball. The Senate’s 2025 budget proposal would have required more basketball games between UNC, NC State and smaller schools across the state. The budget would have added UNC and NC State to the schools that receive annual distributions from sports betting tax revenue.
None of those measures have become law.
NC State and North Carolina have been conference mates since 1911, first in the South Atlantic Intercollegiate Athletic Association, then in the Southern Conference and now the ACC. Both have been members of the ACC since its 1953 founding.
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