Federal Judge Schroeder Denies Preliminary Injunction Against North Carolina Absentee-Ballot Sealing and Signature Memo (NC Alliance for Retired Americans v. State Board of Elections)

On October 19, 2026, U.S. District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder (M.D.N.C.) denied the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction in North Carolina Alliance for Retired Americans et al. v. North Carolina State Board of Elections et al., No. 1:26-cv-00965. The plaintiffs (the Alliance, North Carolina Asian Americans Together, Down Home North Carolina and two voters) challenged two provisions of the State Board’s September 4, 2026 update to Numbered Memo 2021-03: a “Sealing Requirement” (a returned ballot whose inner container-return envelope is unsealed is spoiled and reissued) and a “Signature Verification Requirement.” The Republican National Committee and the North Carolina Republican Party intervened as defendants.

The court relied on the Purcell principle (the election had already started), on plaintiff delay (suit filed eighteen days after the memo), and, in the alternative, found that plaintiffs fail to provide a clear showing for preliminary relief. The order says this is a preliminary determination, not an ultimate determination of the merits. The case continues; this is not a final judgment.