[JURIST] A North Carolina federal judge on Monday rejected [opinion, PDF] a motion for preliminary injunction filed by state Democrats accusing Donald J. Trump’s [campaign website] presidential campaign of promoting voter intimidation on election day. According to the Democratic Party [party website], Trump’s campaign had publicly encouraged supporters to monitor the polls for voter fraud, influence voters’ decisions and conduct exit polling. Judge Catherine Eagles stated, however, that the evidence presented did not satisfy the burden of proof required to justify injunction. Eagles found that the public statements referenced may be subject to multiple interpretations and have not resulted in actual voter intimidation besides isolated hearsay reports. Eagles supported the right of candidates and voters to monitor the polls, stating that such actions to not automatically amount to voter intimidation. The Democratic Party may renew the motion if voter intimidation becomes apparent on election day.

Voter rights continue to plague this election cycle. As of Monday state democrats have raised voter intimidation suits in six states [Politico report], yet only a federal Ohio granted the requested injunction before being rejected on appeal [JURIST report]. Last month the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit [official website] struck down [JURIST report] a New Hampshire law that banned ballot selfies. Last week the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit [official website] denied an emergency motion [JURIST report] from North Carolina counties to extend the hours of early voting. Earlier this month a district court judge ruled [JURIST report] that Ohio must allow most unlawfully purged voters to vote in November. In September a district court judge granted [JURIST report] a motion blocking Illinois from allowing voter registration on election day in the state’s most populated counties. Also in September the US Supreme Court [official website] denied a motion to reinstate [JURIST report] North Carolina’s recently overturned law that limited early voting to 10 days and required voters to present approved identification cards.