Election Bills Introduced by NCGA:
Senate Bill 747 has crossed over to the NC House and it is still lacking in the critical elements that we need to assure transparency in 2024 and beyond. The Poll Observer Bill and Cast Vote Records bills are these crucial elements.
Please lobby and/or call NC House reps to get NC over the finish line by getting election integrity bills passed this session so we are in great shape for 2024. (We have two weeks left. We suspect that August will be devoted to redistricting.)
The North Carolina General Assembly is considering passing an Omnibus Elections Bill 747 that falls short in several areas, including:
No protections for Poll Observers to perform their duties.
No allowance for citizens to correct known deficiencies on voter lists.
No partisan parity at Early Voting sites
No provisional ballots for same-day registration and voting
No way to inspect mail-in ballot envelopes or challenge voters who do not live in the county.
Allows non-governmental organizations to track voters who are voting by mail.
Does not specify that machine Cast Vote Records (CVRs) are publicly releasable.
Allows for “curing” of mail-in ballot envelopes after poll closure.
Of particular critical concern is the Poll Observer Bill. Some of the representatives seem to think that the changes in the bill are not necessary. NCEIT has compiled the SEIRS (State Election Incident Reporting System) incident reports that are now affidavits to demonstrate the critical need for changes and election transparency across the state. Here is a partial list by county of the poll observer incident reports in the NC election in 2022. Please feel free to use it when talking to your representatives.
Please contact these key House leaders in the North Carolina General Assembly today and each day to tell them to fix the Omnibus Elections Bill so North Carolina can truly have free and fair elections. We have until the end of July to get this done! We also want to thank AMAC (Association of Mature American Citizens) and ETI the Election Transparency Initiative - for their continued effort to lobby and to make phone calls into the general assembly. Resources: Analysis of S747 Edition 3 here. What's Wrong With our Voter Lists in NC?
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Senate Bills that Crossed Over:
--S747 (Omnibus Election Bill)- Strongly Support (Needs some edits and additions); Crossed Over- Presently awaiting House Calendar
--S749 (No Partisan Advantage in Elections)- Crossed over- Awaiting House Calendar
House Bills still in Play:
--H259 (2023 Appropriations Act) (in the bill: HAVA Funds, Post Election Audit Report, Prohibit ERIC funding, Funds for Voter ID, Prohibit Private Monetary Donations in Elections)– Support - Both House & Senate Conferees have been appointed
-H770** (Access to Voted Ballots)-- Strong Support
--H772** (Poll Observer Activity)-- Strong Support