Broad election-law bill sent to Gov. Stein
RALEIGH — A broad North Carolina election-law bill is on Gov. Josh Stein’s desk after the House concurred with Senate changes last week.
House Bill 958, titled “Election Law Changes,” was presented to the governor Aug. 7 after being ratified Aug. 6, according to the General Assembly bill record. The House voted 62-47 on Aug. 4 to concur with the Senate committee substitute. The Senate previously approved the measure 28-13 on second reading July 28.
The bill would make a series of changes to state election statutes, including rules for precinct officials, nonpartisan election observers, municipal election dates, party-primary candidate eligibility, voter registration list maintenance, campaign finance reporting and election administration technology.
One provision would allow county boards of elections to suspend or remove precinct officials, including on Election Day, for incompetency or failure to discharge the duties of office. It also would allow a county board to bar a suspended or removed precinct official from serving in later elections.
The bill would require additional training for election officials and establish minimum topics for precinct official training, including voter registration checks, ballot issuance, voter assistance, curbside voting, poll opening and closing procedures, electioneering limits and possible removal from office.
Another section would extend the party-affiliation requirement for candidates filing in a party primary. Current law requires a candidate to be affiliated with that party for at least 90 days before filing. The bill would change that period to 365 days, while allowing the state executive committee of the party to grant a waiver.
The measure also would require county, city and local school board election districts to use the most recent federal decennial census data when establishing district boundaries.
Other provisions address voter list maintenance, data sharing with other states, campaign finance disclosure requirements, political party reporting, State Board of Elections duties and election-related records.
Many provisions would take effect Jan. 1, 2027, and apply to elections or candidate filings after that date.
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.
