Michael Whatley and North Carolina's Registration Repair: The RNC Suits He Led and the 63,000 Voters Still at Risk of Losing Their State and Local Votes

As chair of the Republican National Committee, Michael Whatley, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in North Carolina, led the RNC and the state Republican Party in an August 2024 suit over about 225,000 North Carolina voters whose records lacked a driver's license number or Social Security digits. The RNC settled in February 2026 on terms that keep the state's Registration Repair project going.

Registration Repair began with about 103,000 voters, and more than 63,000 remained on its list as of October 2026. North Carolina voters who do not supply a number have their votes counted in federal races, but their votes in state and local elections do not count, though the state's elections director said the missing numbers were "the fault of a faulty form," not the voters.

What It Cost: North Carolina Voters on the Registration Repair List That Michael Whatley's RNC Settlement Kept in Place

• Voters on the list. When Registration Repair began in July 2025, about 103,000 registered North Carolina voters needed to repair their registrations, and those who did not would have to cast provisional ballots, WFAE reported. The state's elections director, Sam Hayes, said of the missing numbers: "(It's) the fault of a faulty form that was promulgated years ago. It's not the fault of the voters."
• Still on the list in November 2026. At time of publication, more than 63,000 voters remain on this list, The Assembly's November 2026 North Carolina election guide reported in its update of October 5, 2026.
• Uncounted state and local votes. Registration Repair voters who do not supply a number still have their votes counted in federal races, but their votes in state and local elections do not count, NC Newsline reported.
• Discarded primary ballots. In North Carolina's March 2026 primary, 16 ballots spread over 10 counties were discarded entirely instead of being partially counted for the U.S. Senate and U.S. House primaries, and certification of six congressional district primary results was delayed.

Michael Whatley's RNC Lawsuits Over North Carolina Voter Registrations

• Whatley's RNC Sued Over 225,000 North Carolina Voters, and Its 2026 Settlement Keeps Registration Repair Going. On August 23, 2024, the Republican National Committee, which Michael Whatley chaired, and the North Carolina Republican Party sued the State Board of Elections over about 225,000 voters whose registration records lacked a driver's license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number, asking a court to remove those voters from the rolls or allow them to cast only provisional ballots. On October 17, 2024, a federal judge dismissed the federal claim. In February 2026 the RNC settled: the state board agreed to continue its Registration Repair project and to reject applications where voters do not supply a government ID number or check a box saying they have none. Registration Repair is the solution for three pending lawsuits and a settlement adopted by the state board, The Center Square reported in August 2025, when more than 82,000 registered voters were getting letters about missing numbers.
• Whatley's RNC Sued to Throw Out About 60,000 Ballots in North Carolina's 2024 Supreme Court Race. On December 31, 2024, with Michael Whatley as chair, the Republican National Committee and the North Carolina Republican Party filed a lawsuit seeking to toss about 60,000 ballots cast by voters with allegedly "incomplete" registration information in the state Supreme Court race that Justice Allison Riggs led. While the RNC suit and Republican Jefferson Griffin's parallel challenges were pending, certification of the race was halted; the state Supreme Court allowed more than 60,000 of the challenged ballots to remain in the vote count, and Griffin conceded on May 7, 2025, ending a dispute that "stretched six months past Election Day." The State Board of Elections' general counsel said in July 2025 that Registration Repair voters who do not supply a number would likely lose their votes in state and local contests because of state appellate courts' decisions in Jefferson Griffin's efforts to overturn Riggs's victory, WFAE reported.
• Whatley's RNC Sued to Bar Overseas Citizens Who Never Lived in North Carolina From Registering, Winning a June 2026 Ruling. On October 2, 2024, with Michael Whatley as chair, the Republican National Committee, the North Carolina Republican Party and two voters sued the North Carolina State Board of Elections over a state law that lets U.S. citizens born abroad, whose parent or legal guardian's former residence is in the state, register and vote there. On June 9, 2026, a Wake County Superior Court judge granted the plaintiffs summary judgment, declaring that people who qualify only under that provision "are not eligible to register and vote in any North Carolina election contest, including state or federal contests." The State Board of Elections had said that without the provision, "these US citizens have no other way to vote in US elections."
• Whatley Said the State Failed to Keep Non-Citizens Off the Rolls; Its 2026 Federal Check Flagged 0.02% of Voters as Potential Noncitizens. Announcing the August 2024 suit, Michael Whatley said, "The NCSBE has once again failed in its mandate to keep non-citizens off the voter rolls". In October 2026, a check against the federal SAVE database flagged 1,392 registrations as potential noncitizens, about 0.02% of North Carolina's 7.9 million registered voters, and the database has come under criticism for flagging people who are citizens and eligible to vote, NC Newsline reported.

Frequently Asked Questions About Michael Whatley on North Carolina registration repair

Last updated: 2026-10-25

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