The NC NAACP sued multiple counties in North Carolina, including Lenoir, seeking to decertify the ExpressVote machines used in voting statewide.

The lawsuit seeks to prevent the use of the ExpressVote machines by any of North Carolina’s counties based on allegations related to security and reliability. The State Board of Elections has the authority to take the lead role in litigation involving county boards of elections, in particular, when a lawsuit threatens uniform elections administration.

Stephen Hines, Director of Lenoir County Board of Elections said, “We have received no complaints in Lenoir County, and we have had no issues with this equipment during the primary.”

The current Chair of the Lenoir County Board of Elections, Courtney Patterson, is also an Executive Committee member of the NC NAACP, the organization bringing forth the lawsuit.

When Patterson inquired about the lawsuit, he was told that originally Lenoir County was not in the suit and later learned that was not accurate.

“I voted for the machines we are using in Lenoir County,” said Patterson.

Patterson told Neuse News that he does not support the NAACP lawsuit. Patterson stated, “Every member of [the Lenoir County Board of Elections] did put partisan politics behind them as we decided the purchase of this equipment.”

“I am very proud of our work in providing for the citizens of Lenoir County with the best voting equipment available,” said Patterson. “We are also grateful to the County Commissioners for funding this purchase.”

The lawsuit states the NAACP challenges the use of the insecure and fatally flawed ExpressVote voting machine and the decision of the boards of Elections to compel their voters to use the machines when voting. Specifically, their standing is that because of the security flaws, votes may be rendered meaningless or cast on the wrong candidate.

With the election in November on the horizon, whether Lenoir County residents will use the ExpressVote machines will be up for the courts to decide.

“Based on the way the courts have worked in the past, I doubt that they would have a ruling by then,” said Patterson about the November election.