Count Every Hero filed an amicus brief with the Secure Families Initiative in Kivett v. North Carolina State Board of Elections to safeguard the rights of military and overseas voters.
Raleigh, NC — Count Every Hero partnered with the Secure Families Initiative to urge the North Carolina Court of Appeals to block efforts to overturn longstanding North Carolina military and overseas voting laws and procedures mere days before the general election, after ballots had already been cast.
Days before the 2024 general election and long after military and overseas voters began receiving and returning their ballots, Petitioners sought to disqualify thousands of absentee ballots — including many cast by individuals protected under the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) and North Carolina’s Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act (UMOVA). The Petitioners challenged the constitutionality of these longstanding statutes, which “expressly guaranteed the children and dependents of military and overseas North Carolinians the right to register and vote in North Carolina, regardless of whether they have themselves lived in the state.”
Count Every Hero and the Secure Families Initiative argued that the Petitioners failed to understand the voting process for military and overseas voters and sought to create another barrier to voting for a population that already faces many challenges to exercise their voting rights. Federal and state lawmakers recognized the challenges these voters faced and enacted UOCAVA and UMOVA, respectively, to protect their voting rights and to ensure they do not face additional barriers to executing their right to the franchise. The Petitioners would force election officials not to count the ballots submitted by these voters unless they followed additional procedures not required at the time voters cast their ballots.
The brief argued that the relief the Petitioners sought risked irreparably harming a large swath of the voting population in North Carolina and “treats[s] an entire group of citizens differently based upon unsupported and speculative allegations for which there is not even a scintilla of substantive evidence.” The Petitioner did so despite clear legal protections ensuring these voters can participate in elections no matter their residence or status.
Disenfranchising military voters sends a dangerous signal: that the voices of those who wear the uniform — and their families — can be sacrificed for political advantage. Count Every Hero and the Secure Families Initiative called upon the North Carolina Appeals to deny this request and ensure the people who work to defend the democratic process are able to participate in it themselves.
Read the full amicus brief here.