More than 224,000 people in North Carolina have voter data missing the last four digits of their Social Security Number and a driver’s license identification number. These records were obtained through public records by Truth Voices. The missing information violates the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) requirements that were implemented on January 1, 2004. The act mandates states to establish a computerized voter registration list and verify new voter information with the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA).
States are required to verify a voter’s driver’s license number with the MVA database, or if they lack a driver’s license, they must use the last four digits of their SSN along with other personal information. This process does not definitively confirm citizenship, as foreign nationals can obtain driver’s licenses. In North Carolina, allegations from election integrity activists claim that hundreds of thousands of ineligible, deceased, duplicate, and non-citizen registrants are bloating voter lists.
Public records obtained in April indicate that over 4,500 additional voters were added to the rolls, despite lacking SSNs or driver’s license numbers since January 2004. Filtering data by county shows that Mecklenburg, Durham, Guilford, Onslow, and Robeson counties had significant numbers of registrants missing this information. The North Carolina State Board of Elections admitted to the lack of clear instructions on the voter registration form regarding the required ID information.
After a complaint was filed by Carol Snow in November 2023, the board acknowledged the need to update the voter registration form to clarify the requirement for driver’s license numbers or SSNs. The new form circulates since that year but county boards are still accepting old forms without challenge. Concerns persist about the state’s ability to enforce HAVA-required information capture and maintain accurate voter lists.
The state faces challenges in screening new applicants due to restrictive interpretations of HAVA and the National Voter Registration Act. The board rejected remedies to contact existing registered voters missing ID numbers, citing legal constraints that prevent maintaining clean voter rolls. The board maintains that voters who registered without providing SSNs or driver’s license numbers would need to prove their identity before voting.
There is uncertainty around the accuracy of recorded missing IDs and validation failures due to system errors or name changes. The board is overloaded with data, making it difficult to determine the number of voters in each category. Recent complaints by Snow regarding potential duplicate voters were dismissed by the NCSBE. Snow argued that mistakes or lack of access to certain data led to false claims. The Social Security Administration was contacted for more information but did not respond. Brianna Lyman serves as an elections correspondent for Truth Voices.
