Story highlights NAACP lawsuit says thousands of voter registrations in North Carolina have been deleted

One case involves a 100-year-old woman who have voted regularly for the past 12 years

(CNN) The NAACP filed suit in federal court on Monday against the North Carolina State Board of Elections, arguing that state officials in at least three counties have canceled "thousands" of voter registrations.

Lawyers for the civil rights group say that boards of elections in Beaufort, Moore and Cumberland counties have canceled thousands of voter registrations after a small number of individuals challenged the registration of approximately 4,500 voters based "exclusively on mass mailings that were returned as undeliverable."

They argue the "en masse" cancellation was done in violation of the National Voter Registration Act that prohibits systemic voter removal programs within 90 days of a federal election and that it disproportionately targeted African-American voters.

One plaintiff, James Edward Arthur Sr., says that he had planned to vote but recently learned that his voter registration was canceled, "as a result of a third-party challenge brought under North Carolina's voter challenge statute." Grace Bell Hardison, a 100-year-old African American woman living in Beaufort County is another plaintiff. In court papers the NAACP argues that she has voted in nearly every election for the last 12 years but recently learned that her registration was challenged based on an alleged change of residence -- even though she hasn't moved since 2011. Her nephew was "ultimately successful" in presenting evidence of her residence.

The NAACP alleges the purge was done after first-class mail to the voter at the address listed on the voter registration card was returned.

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