Election legislation one step away from House floor vote

(The Center Square) – Legislation to reform the state’s election laws on Tuesday advanced through its first House committee since approval in the Senate in June.

The House Election Law and Campaign Finance Reform Committee approved a committee substitute for Senate Bill 747, expanding on the legislation aimed at delivering unofficial final results on the night of Election Day.

SB747 is expected to move to the House rules committee, typically the last stop before a floor vote. The bill cleared the Senate with a vote of 28-19 on June 26, with no Democrats for it and no Republicans in opposition.

The new version of the bill incorporates reforms on election observers in House Bill 772, with a new appointment process and guidelines on what they can and can’t do. It shifts to “early voting” instead of “one-stop absentee” voting that will no longer require early voters to sign an absentee request application.

Other changes would require county election boards to confirm same-day registrations the same way they confirm other voter registrations; and require hand-delivered mail ballots to be handed to a person at an election office or early voting site, effectively banning drop boxes. For unaffiliated voters, they would be able to vote in the primary of their choice; previously, there was a requirement that parties had to offer a resolution to open primaries to unaffiliated voters.

The committee substitute retains most original provisions in the bill, including making Election Day the deadline for county boards of elections to receive absentee ballots, a move that aligns the state with 30 others with the same deadline.

Other provisions ban private funding in elections, remove noncitizens from voter rolls, increase retention of election records to 22 months, and require bipartisan representation of election officials at early voting sites.

Committee members adopted one amendment to the committee substitute from Chairman Grey Mills, R-Iredell, that clarified provisions related to poll observers and curable deficiencies for ballots. The panel rejected numerous amendments from Democrats, including to reinstate the three-day grace period for absentee ballots, and to allow for drop boxes.

Democrats including Gov. Roy Cooper have attacked the legislation, with Cooper saying SB747 and Senate Bill 749 to create bipartisan election boards are a Republican attempt to “ignore voters and rig elections.” Election boards on the county level are five members, majority of the party in the Executive Mansion; the proposal would make them four members with each party able to appoint equal representation, or include unaffiliated registered voters – the largest bloc in the state.

On Tuesday, Democrats also raised issues with adopting the changes without a budget in place. Republicans continue to negotiate over a budget for the fiscal year that started July 1.

“I don’t know how we can pass this bill without looking at the money and funds to make sure it’s there to do this correctly,” said Committee Vice Chairman Allison Dahle, D-Wake, noting numerous requirements on state and county election boards. “I’m really concerned we’re putting the cart before the horse without knowing what the budget requirements are.”

The bills’ sponsors and Republican leaders in the General Assembly have said the intent is to strengthen election integrity, citing public polling that shows about half of North Carolinians do not believe elections will be free or fair. Cooper previously vetoed the provisions of SB747 regarding the absentee ballot deadline and private funding for elections as standalone bills.

Republicans hold exactly three-fifths majorities in both chambers, 30 in the Senate and 72 in the House, the minimum threshold for veto overrides.