New NC Bill seeks to restrict voting rights even more

Late Friday, June 12, Republican leaders dropped an unannounced, 36-page omnibus bill stuffed with new voting restrictions and elections changes.

Some of its major provisions, all designed to restrict voting, include:

• Total ban on encouraging voter turnout: State and county board members are prohibited from any public statement "encouraging or promoting voter turnout in any election"

• Grants the Republican State Auditor total discretion to audit all machines, county offices and personnel involved in any election

• Reduces campaign finance transparency: the bill significantly raises the dollar thresholds for required reporting of dark money contributions or media expenditures, waiving reporting for the rest

• Requires voters to register with a political party a full year before voting in that party's primary election (up from 90 days)

• Total ban on any ranked-choice voting in any primary or general election statewide

• Strips some overseas voters of their eligibility to vote in any state elections

• Partisan staffing: changes up to 25 professional staff at the State Board of Elections from career civil staff to partisan political appointees

According to the NCDP, this bill will be in committee Tuesday at 10 a.m. in Room 1228 of the Legislative Building for the House Elections Law Committee, and again at 2:30 p.m. for the House Rules Committee.

Find a draft of the bill: https://carolinaforward.org/images/hb-958-pcs.pdf 

Contact House Elections Law committee members: Election Law House Standing Committee - North Carolina General Assembly

Contact House Rules Committee members: Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House House Standing Committee - North Carolina General Assembly

Act now to protect your voting rights!