North Carolina's long-running fight over how, when, and where people can vote is heading back to court. Voting-rights groups say they will appeal a federal judge's decision to let the state’s tightened same-day registration rules stand, escalating the legal battle over Senate Bill 747, the 2023 law critics say makes it easier for ballots to be tossed over mail and administrative glitches. Plaintiffs warn the changes will fall hardest on college students, renters, and other mobile voters, potentially cancelling ballots through no fault of the person who cast them.
According to a press release from the League of Women Voters, Democracy North Carolina, the North Carolina Black Alliance, and the League of Women Voters of North Carolina announced on Friday that they will appeal the district court ruling. The groups said they are represented by the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and pro bono counsel Steptoe LLP and McDermott Will & Schulte LLP as they press the case to the next court.
In a 108-page opinion issued March 26, 2026, U.S. District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder concluded that SB 747's “undeliverable mail” provision and its changes to same-day registration do not violate the First, Fourteenth, or Twenty-Sixth Amendments and that any burden on voters is minimal. As detailed by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, Schroeder found the plaintiffs had not proven intentional discrimination sufficient to block the law.
SB 747, enacted in October 2023 after the General Assembly overrode Gov. Roy Cooper's veto, rewrote the state's verification process for same-day registrants. The law requires county boards to verify a registrant's North Carolina driver's license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number within two business days and instructs boards to remove ballots from the official count if the first verification card mailed to a registrant is returned undeliverable before canvass, according to the bill text at the North Carolina General Assembly.
Plaintiffs say those mechanics will disproportionately knock out ballots from students and other mobile voters who depend on campus mailrooms and temporary addresses. “This ruling is a blow to North Carolina voters and a step backward for our democracy,” League of Women Voters of North Carolina President Jennifer Rubin said, while Southern Coalition counsel Adrianne Spoto warned the decision could have “devastating consequences” for electoral participation, as reported by The Charlotte Post.
Legal Path Ahead
Because the case was tried in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, the next stop for an appeal is the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, where federal appeals from North Carolina district courts are heard. Parties generally must file a notice of appeal within 30 days of the district court's order under the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, and plaintiffs could also ask a court to stay enforcement of the law while the appeal proceeds, according to the Fourth Circuit.
Why This Matters For 2026
Election lawyers and voting-rights advocates say the appeal could determine how same-day registrants are treated in the 2026 election cycle and beyond, since SB 747’s mechanics would apply to the next round of statewide contests. Local reporting has noted that the ruling lifts a judicial guardrail that had limited the law's effect in 2024, and advocates say the appeal aims to restore the previous protections. NC Newsline reported that the decision will be in force for the next statewide elections.
For now, the plaintiffs say they will press ahead in the appeals courts, and the parties' briefs and any motions for emergency relief are likely to land quickly. Watch the filings and the Fourth Circuit docket for the next twist in North Carolina's latest ballot fight.
