NC lawmakers move up absentee ballot deadline, push other elections changes

That change and a measure that would prohibit elections officials across North Carolina from accepting donations from private groups are headed to Gov. Roy Cooper, where one or both are likely to be vetoed. The Democratic governor has repeatedly clashed with the Republican-controlled legislature on elections policy and procedures.

Currently, North Carolina law allows absentee ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day three additional days to arrive at a county elections office. But Republican lawmakers have repeatedly complained about a legal settlement over the state's voting rules during the coronavirus pandemic that added an extra nine days to that deadline last year.

So, GOP lawmakers crafted Senate Bill 326, dubbed the Election Day Integrity Act, which set the night of Election Day as a firm deadline to accept mailed ballots. Only ballots received from deployed military would be accepted after that.

Rep. Grey Mills, R-Iredell, said people's doubts about the validity of elections increases every day that passes without winners being declared in various races. Having almost all votes in by the end of Election Day would all but eliminate that uncertainty, he said.

Rep. Joe John, D-Wake, called the three-day period after Election Day "a safety valve" that needs to be preserved to account for delays in the postal system.

According to the State Board of Elections, 11,635 mail-in ballots were accepted in those three days in 2020. They would have been thrown out under the proposed legislation.

"I urge you seriously not to tamper with something that's not broken," said Rep. Kelly Alexander, D-Mecklenburg.

Reaction to the 2020 elections also was the foundation of Senate Bill 725, which says private donations cannot be used to pay poll workers or for other elections expenses. A foundation created by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg doled out more than $400 million across the nation last year – critics labeled the money "Zuck bucks" – to help elections offices cope with difficulties created by the pandemic.

"If they need money," Rep. Jake Johnson, R-Polk, said of election boards, "that should come through the county ... not through outside entities."

A seething Rep. Allison Dahle, D-Wake, noted the private money helped purchase protective gear for poll workers and voters.

"Folks were trying to make sure people were safe," Dahle said. "Regardless of how you feel about this pandemic, people lost their lives – they died. I'm sorry, but I don't think people should be asked to die to vote."

A third bill, titled the Election Integrity Act, would require that all new voting equipment and software be made in the U.S. and that courts officials send the names of people who get out of jury duty by claiming that they aren't citizens to the State Board of Elections so they can be removed from voter rolls. It still needs Senate approval.

"It infers that we don't have election integrity in our system today," Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham, said of House Bill 259.

Morey and other House Democrats dismissed Republican concerns about election integrity, arguing that there's no evidence of widespread fraud in North Carolina elections.

"These bills are an attempt to gaslight the public," said Rep. Deb Butler, D-New Hanover. "We need to stop this charade. When you intentionally attempt to chill participation in elections by undermining voter confidence with information that is flatly wrong, you are tearing at the fabric of our democracy."

Rep. Billy Richardson, D-Cumberland, suggested all three bills, which passed on party-line votes, were being pushed so they could be vetoed and then used by Republicans in 2022 campaign ads.

"Let's don't use this stuff to shoot at one another," Richardson said. "What we're doing now is not helpful. It is not going to bring North Carolina together."