A federal judge says a North Carolina elections board directive making it easier for voters to fix witness deficiencies in absentee ballots may violate a previous ruling he made. Federal Judge William Osteen, who presided over one of multiple lawsuits over absentee ballots, asked lawyers for the North Carolina State Board of Elections to schedule a status conference “at the earliest possible date and time” to explain to him recent changes to absentee ballot rules announced last week. The elections board’s new directive allows voters who cast mail-in ballots with incomplete witness information to fix the problem by returning an affidavit, rather than starting the ballot over from scratch.