The North Carolina Supreme Court heard oral arguments related to voter fraud allegations made after the 2016 election. The Thursday hearing sets the stage for how partisan officials can pursue claims of voter fraud in future state elections. A group of four voters claimed in a 2017 lawsuit they were defamed by supporters of former Republican Gov. Pat McCrory after he lost to now Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper by about 10,000 votes in 2016. The lawsuit says McCrory supporters submitted election protests to local elections board falsely claiming the voters had double voted. The defendants say they had legal immunity to make those allegations.