Election administration bill sent to governor

RALEIGH — A second election administration bill was sent to Gov. Josh Stein last week, setting up possible changes to ballot curing, absentee voting procedures, early voting equipment and court review of State Board of Elections decisions.

House Bill 834, titled “SBOE Administrative Changes,” was presented to the governor Aug. 7 after being ratified Aug. 6, according to the General Assembly bill record. The House voted 74-35 on Aug. 4 to concur with the Senate committee substitute.

The bill would extend several post-election cure and counting deadlines from the third business day after an election to the fifth business day after an election.

Those provisions include deadlines for voters to correct incomplete registration forms, cure missing signatures on provisional ballot affidavits, provide required identification in certain provisional ballot cases and cure some absentee ballot deficiencies.

The bill also would require county boards of elections to publish the number of provisional ballots cast on Election Day, during early voting, by mail-in absentee ballot received as of Election Day and by military and overseas voters received as of Election Day.

Under the bill, county boards could begin counting certain absentee ballots during specified hours on Election Day, but results could not be announced before polls close. The bill would make it unlawful to knowingly reveal ballot-count results before the close of polls.

Another section would require voting equipment used during early voting to be rendered unable to receive additional votes after early voting ends. It also sets requirements for securing paper ballots and electronic records from the early voting period before the initial count.

The bill includes a provision for ballot challenges involving deceased voters. If a challenge is sustained because the voter died between casting the ballot and 11:59 p.m. the day before the election, the challenged ballot would not be counted.

The bill also would allow a person seeking judicial review of a State Board of Elections decision to file in Wake County Superior Court or in the superior court of the county where the person resides.

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.