On July 16, I wrote: “House Bill 958 will improve state election law and practices. Some changes and additions could make it even better.”
A proposed committee substitute (PCS, basically a friendly amendment) introduced in the House Judiciary 1 Committee on July 30 makes several changes proposed in the July 16 article, making an already good election bill better.
Read the July 16 article for a fuller description of the bill. This article will focus on some of the changes and additions in the PCS.
Improving sections of the bill that needed them
I wrote that two sections of the bill should be modified. The PCS improves both.
Not exempting as many positions at the State Board of Elections (SBE): The earlier version of the bill made too many positions exempt from the state Human Resources Act, instead having them serve at the discretion of the executive director:
The bill would allow the executive director of the SBE to exempt up to 25 positions from the state Human Resources Act. This would give the director discretion to fire and replace people in those positions, essentially making them political appointees…
While there is value in having a team with the same vision as the executive director, there is also value in having continuity in official positions as long as workers are not actively resisting the executive director’s direction. We also do not want to be at a point where elections would result in massive changeovers in SBE staff every few years.
The SBE currently has 68 staff positions. Making over a third of those exempt would be excessive. The PCS reduces the number of exempt positions from 25 to five. That is a reasonable compromise.
Banning donations to referendum campaigns by foreign nationals: While foreigners are currently banned from contributing to election campaigns, there are currently no protections for ballot measures, such as bond referendums or constitutional amendments, in North Carolina.
The bill included a ban on foreign nationals contributing to
Two changes would strengthen the ban. First, donations should be limited to U.S. citizens, as with Ohio’s foreign money ban. Second, referendum committee treasurers should be required to affirm that donations did not directly or indirectly come from foreign nationals, as is required by law in Kentucky, Kansas, and other states.
While the PCS still allows lawful permanent residents (green card holders) to contribute to referendum committees, it requires referendum committee treasurers to certify that no funds from foreign nationals paid for activities that include “conducting a poll, public opinion survey, or focus group; drafting referendum language; telephone calls; and travel.” It also more specifically spells out the limits on foreign donations to referendum campaigns.
Additional changes to the bill
Here are some of the other changes from the version of the bill that came out of the House Committee on Election Law.
Earlier absentee ballot counting: County election boards may start counting absentee ballots that arrive before election day at 9:00 AM on election day, rather than 5:00 PM, freeing them to do other work as they prepare for the close of polls.
Timeline for address verification: County officials must mail an address verification within five business days of receiving a voter registration application. If that verification is returned as undeliverable, they have five business days to send a second address verification. Delaying registration verification has contributed to problems with ballots being counted from registrations that were later found to be unverifiable. A 2023 law fixed that problem, but a court settlement earlier this year means it could return. More timely verification procedures would minimize the impact of that settlement.
Privacy protection: If North Carolina joined a voter registration data-sharing arrangement such as the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), this would address concerns about groups gaining access to the records of people not registered to vote, making any such data “not a public record.”
Ban payment per petition signature: As I noted in testimony to the North Carolina House Committee on Oversight and Reform in 2024, “any time you pay people to gather signatures… you increase the likelihood of fraud,” and recommended just such a ban.
Eligibility audit: The SBE shall conduct an audit to identify any early ballots that are “ineligible to be counted” because the person who cast it is not an eligible voter (for example, not a United States citizen or a county resident). County boards may challenge any ineligible ballots. The bill also has numerous updates to the challenge process, including requiring that they be recorded.
Temporarily allow expired driver’s licenses as voter IDs: To relieve long lines at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), the General Assembly passed a law allowing drivers to continue using a license two years after its expiration date. Voters can use those expired licenses to vote in the 2025, 2026, and 2027 elections.
Full Social Security number to register: Anyone registering to vote or changing registrations must provide their full Social Security number. Another provision requires the DMV to provide the SBE with the full Social Security numbers of any registered voters for whom they have that data.
Promoting voter turnout: The section requiring election officials to be neutral regarding voter turnout has been dropped.
No “never resident” voting: Current law allows overseas citizens who have never lived in North Carolina to vote here if their parents once resided in the state. The PCS removes that provision.
This is not a complete list of the changes to election law in the bill or the changes to the bill in the PCS.
