Bill would return State Board of Elections appointment power to governor
RALEIGH — A new House bill would reestablish the North Carolina State Board of Elections as an independent state agency and return appointment authority for the board from the state auditor to the governor.
House Bill 1233, titled “State Bd of Elections/Independent Agency,” was filed May 28 and appears on the House calendar for Monday, June 1. The bill is sponsored by Rep. Zack Hawkins, a Durham County Democrat. The proposal comes after repeated legal and political fights over who controls election administration in North Carolina.
The bill would repeal a section of state law enacted in 2024 that transferred certain budgeting functions for the State Board of Elections to the state auditor. Under HB 1233, those functions would be transferred back to the State Board of Elections and performed under the board’s direction and supervision.
The bill states that the State Board of Elections “shall exercise all its prescribed statutory powers, duties, and functions as an independent State agency.” It would also remove language placing the board administratively within the Department of the Secretary of State and instead state that the board would not be placed within any principal administrative department.
Under current language amended by the bill, the governor would appoint the five members of the State Board of Elections from nominees submitted by the chairs of the two political parties with the highest number of registered affiliates in the state. No more than three members of the board could be from the same political party.
The bill would also affect county election boards. Four members of each county board would continue to be appointed by the State Board of Elections, with two members from each of the two political parties with the highest number of registered affiliates. The governor, rather than the state auditor, would appoint the chair of each county board.
Current terms for members of the State Board of Elections would end April 30, 2027, and new terms would begin May 1, 2027. The bill also says pending actions or proceedings involving the State Board of Elections would not be affected by the transition, and ongoing investigations or audits would continue.
Election board control has been one of North Carolina’s recurring institutional disputes, with lawmakers, governors and courts weighing competing claims over the structure of election administration. HB 1233 would again shift the balance of power, this time away from the state auditor and back toward the governor.
The bill had not received a committee assignment in the version posted by the General Assembly. The House calendar notes that election law bills are among the types of measures eligible for filing in the 2026 short session.
Editor’s note: This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.
