Voting rights advocates have won a singular victory in their multifaceted lawsuit to force more permissive voting regulations in battleground North Carolina this fall.
People whose absentee ballots get rejected must be notified and given a chance to challenge the disqualification and correct any mistakes, federal Judge William Osteen ruled Tuesday. But he also concluded that fears the coronavirus will sicken voters at the polls, or depress turnout, are not enough to make him order more widespread easements in the state's election laws.
His decision, which would be tough to successfully appeal in the three months before Election Day, gives some clarity on the election rules in one of the most politically pivotal states — where the battles for its 15 electoral votes as well as a Senate seat both look like tossups.
But Democrats and others pushing for maximum turnout in the state, especially in Black communities, say they will benefit from the judge's order to permit so-called ballot curing and two other absentee voting easements approved by the General Assembly last month: reducing, from two to one, the number of witness signatures on the ballot envelope, and allowing voters to apply for mail ballots online.
Nineteen states require voters be notified of a missing signature or a signature discrepancy and allowed a do-over. About half the states allow online or email applications for absentee ballots. Fewer than a dozen states require a witness signature on such a ballot.
In his ruling, Osteen wrote that while the evidence presented during a two-day hearing last month was not strong enough to warrant his more assertive intervention, officials in Raleigh "would be sorely mistaken" in concluding the concerns raised in the lawsuit could now be discounted.
The suit was filed against the State Board of Elections, GOP Secretary of State Stella Anderson and other officials by Democracy North Carolina and the League of Women Voters. They also wanted to make the state allow new voters to register closer than 25 days before the election, one of the earliest deadlines in the country; set up drop boxes for absentee ballots; ease restrictions on assisting people in marking and returning such ballots; and drop the remaining witness requirement.
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice, which helped press the lawsuit, said the ruling to allow the corrections on absentee ballots could preserve the franchise for an estimated 115,000 North Carolinians — a number based on past rejection rates and the expectation that two of every five votes in the state will be cast by mail this fall, 20 times the number two years ago.
Polling shows former Vice President Joe Biden statistically tied with President Trump in the state. The last Democrat to carry it was Barack Obama a dozen years ago — and by just 18,000 votes. And Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who's being challenged by former Democratic state Sen. Cal Cunningham, won his seat six years ago by just 45,000 votes.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a“ Steel Across America” event ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks on the Ellipse near the White House on Sept. 8, 2026 in Washington, D.C. President Trump welcomed 9/ 11 first responders to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’ s“ Steel Across America” event featuring a 16,900- pound, 21- foot steel beam recovered.
For Trump, even 9/11 is an opportunity
There was a reason organizers of the 9/11 ceremony in Manhattan told President Trump he could not speak at this year’s memorial service.
A good one, it turns out.
Because in a speech he gave on Tuesday in Washington, he did exactly what they were presumably worried about — he made it about himself.
According to The New York Times, Trump had wanted a speaking role at the service, but the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, which oversees the site, said no, as they’ve maintained for the past decade-plus that the venue and event should be nonpartisan.
Trump has long used awful tragedies to either puff himself up, trash political opponents, or sell lies to the American people.
He blamed a deadly plane crash at Washington National Airport last year on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. He blamed Puerto Ricans for the devastation they endured after Hurricane Maria in 2017. He reportedly considered withholding disaster relief after the California wildfires based on the way affected regions voted. In an interview on Fox News meant to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, he used the occasion to slam former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi…with graves of the dead behind him.
And now, as we approach the 25th anniversary of what many New Yorkers consider the darkest day in modern history, Trump has done it again.
He told a rambling, nonsensical story — one he’s told before — about going to Ground Zero just after terrorists flew two commercial jets into the twin towers. In the story, which no one has been able to verify, despite multiple attempts, he says firefighters had to carry him out of One Liberty Plaza, also known as the U.S. Steel Building, because they thought it was about to collapse.
As CNN fact checker Daniel Dale notes, there’s no evidence Trump went into this building, especially at a time when NYPD and NYFD had locked down the area. There’s no evidence that building was collapsing — in fact, it was deemed structurally sound and reopened within two months of the attacks. There’s no evidence he was carried out of it by firefighters.
But the lie isn’t even the worst part. Pretend it was all true — why would the leader of our country, and a New Yorker, decide to make that tragic day about himself?
Because that’s who Donald Trump is. He’s a malignant narcissist.
He’s also, incidentally, a terrible and ineffectual president, who’s made ill-fated decisions that he has to keep defending, and there’s nothing he won’t do to make himself look and feel better.
Within the first two minutes of his speech, he was cravenly using 9/11 to justify and promote his dumb war in Iran — two events separated by 25 years and 6,000 miles.
“And I will tell you, we’re right now fighting because we have a certain nation that wanted a nuclear weapon, they were very close to getting it, and now they have no chance at getting it. They will never have a nuclear weapon. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And they’ve been punished greatly. As you know, we’ve really taken it to them.”
As a New Yorker who lived through 9/11, still one of the worst days of my life, I’m utterly sickened by Trump’s crass, political, and self-promotional framing of that awful day.
And I’m relieved he won’t be given a platform to do it again on Friday’s anniversary in lower Manhattan.
Because for Trump, everything is his for the taking, and absolutely nothing is sacred.
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.