NC commission rejects proposal for tighter restrictions on poll watchers

The North Carolina State Board of Elections unanimously sought to tighten rules for poll watchers. The state's Rules Review Commission's members, who are appointed by the state's Republican-controlled legislature, rejected the changes.

Posted 10:29 p.m. Aug 25, 2022 — Updated 11:08 p.m. Aug 25, 2022

Bryan Anderson

, WRAL state government reporter

RALEIGH, N.C. — The North Carolina Rules Review Commission on Thursday voted to prevent the state’s elections board from going forward with tightened rules for poll watchers ahead of the November election.

The move follows state elections officials’ unanimous vote last week to approve temporary changes to more clearly outline how partisan election observers should behave at the polls and reinforce that they shouldn’t stand close to a voting machine or other spots where they could view marked ballots.

The vote also clarified elections officials could eject observers that repeatedly leave a polling site, move beyond designated observation areas or positioning themselves near voting equipment.

The proposed changes required final approval from the rules commission in order to be enacted.

NC elections board OKs stricter rules for observers

Election observers are people often appointed by political parties tasked with monitoring the voting process from inside a polling site. They’re allowed to walk in designated areas to watch, take notes and report any concerns to the precinct’s chief judge or one-stop manager.

The rules commission, which is composed of members appointed by the Republican-controlled legislature, said the state elections board — which is made up of three Democrats and two Republicans — waited too long to advance the changes.

Pat Gannon, a spokesman for the North Carolina State Board of Elections, said the board passed the proposed temporary rule changes in response to disputes elections workers encountered in the May 17 primary with partisan poll watchers, including reported instances of observers improperly seeking to stand behind voting equipment.

Gannon said survey responses North Carolina elections officials received from 43 of the state's 100 counties also informed the proposed rule changes.

"The issues identified were not limited to any particular political party’s observers," Gannon said in a statement.

NC elections board seeks rule changes to reduce conflicts with observers

The Republican National Committee and North Carolina Republican Party had objected to the rules out of concern they would make it more difficult for observers to monitor the voting process. They also argued in a letter to the Rules Review Commission on Wednesday that the proposed rules should’ve been filed earlier, could create unnecessary confusion and were unnecessary because existing laws already spell out poll watching practices.

“The timeliness of these changes brings them further into question,” the state and national Republican groups wrote. “Why is the state board rushing to make these changes right in between the 2022 primary election and 2022 general election? The voters of this state deserve to have an election without last-minute rule changes. If nothing else, these last-minute changes will cause confusion and uncertainty among election workers and volunteers.”

State Republican officials praised the Rules Review Commission’s decision reached on Thursday. “Plain and simple: the Democrat-controlled State Board attempted to subvert the administrative rulemaking process,” Philip Thomas, the NC GOP’s chief counsel said in a statement.

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