CBC Editorial: Tuesday, May 26, 2020; Editorial #8544
The following is the opinion of Capitol Broadcasting Company.
This short session of the North Carolina General Assembly could get off to no better start than by approving
House Bill 1169 “Elections 2020.” This legislation, the result of an all-too-unique collaboration of Republicans and Democrats, will go a long way toward assuring as many registered voters as possible will be able to cast ballots in the November election.
The bill will get its first airing Wednesday before the House Election and Ethics Law Committee. The bill contains no surprises nor any subterfuge. Much of the legislation has been before the public and the legislature for months –
initially proposed in March by Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections.
One of the most critical elements of the bill – providing $4.3 million in state funds to draw down nearly $23 million in federal dollars – will pay for critical elections needs such as additional state and local election staff as well as polling place safety and security concerns.
The legislation will make it less cumbersome to cast ballots by mail – an option many voters may choose who have health concerns amid this COVID-19 pandemic. Typically, about 5% of ballots are cast by mail. Election officials say that might surge to as much as 40% this year. "It's been a long time since we've had a bipartisan elections bill," said
state Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford, a key architect of the elections package. "It seems to be a really good basis for protecting the 2020 election."
Rep. Holly Grange, R-New Hanover, a co-chair of the House Elections Committee and a sponsor of the bill,
said it will give election officials on the local and state level “the flexibility and resources needed to accommodate the expected increase in absentee ballot requests due to the pandemic.”
This legislation, certainly not perfect, does move to answer legal challenges to the current status of the state’s election laws. On the same day the legislation was officially introduced, the state League of Women Voters and Democracy North Carolina
filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming the state had failed to address critical concerns about voter safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier in the month
a group of voters, backed by national voting rights groups,
filed a lawsuit in state courts seeking greater access to absentee voting because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“This bill is a positive step forward toward ensuring every eligible North Carolina voter is able to safely and securely cast a ballot,” said Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina.
The state House appears poised to move the legislation to the Senate this week. The Senate needs to follow the House’s example. Avoid partisan distractions and address the legislation as an opportunity to provide more voters the chance to cast safe and secure ballots.
Elections officials need this legislation now so they will have the procedures, process and people in place for effective and efficient voting in November.
