North Carolina had a big argument over voter fraud in the 2016 Presidential Election. Both parties accused the other of doing it. Republicans said Democrats were helping voters vote multiple times. Democrats countered with accusations of gerrymandering and voter suppression. Caught in the middle are individual voters. Some of them have been accused of committing voter fraud. In guilford county, some are taking their accusers to court.
North Carolina Republican sued for libel
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice is assisting four voters in filing a lawsuit against William Clark Porter the IV.
Guilford County records say that he is registered as a Republican. The four voters are Louis Bouvier Jr., Karen, and Samuel Niehaus, and Gabriel Thabet. According to the complaint, Bouvier is unaffiliated, Thabet is a Republican, and the Niehaus couple are Democrats. Each voter claims that Porter filed an election protest against them for varying reasons. The Niehauses were originally from Wisconsin, but recently moved to North Carolina. Thabet is an ex-con who had his rights restored. Bouvier has a son with the same name in a different state.
According to the North Carolina Board of Elections, Porter challenged the complaints of the four plaintiffs, and 13 other people who voted early, and those complaints were dismissed for lack of evidence.
However, the four voters are suing Porter. They claim that the false accusations caused damage to their reputations. They are expecting damages to exceed $25,000. Porter has not responded to requests for an interview from the media.
Voter fraud allegations dominated North Carolina
There is currently no criminal punishment for filing false election protests.
The result is that people can challenge a large number of people without fearing penalty. Some groups in North Carolina think this has led to people using voter fraud allegations to intimidate voters in traditionally Democratic strongholds like Guilford County.
These accusations led to a major delay in declaring the winner of the governor's race.
Former Gov. Pat McCrory accused his opponent, now Gov. Roy Cooper, of winning via fraud. Considering the fact that Donald Trump is making investigating alleged fraud a national priority, it is unlikely that something will be done to stop people like Porter from filing such challenges. For now, defamation lawsuits remain the only practical remedy.
