Dennis Burns Advisory Board at Common Cause North Carolina | Official website
Dennis Burns Advisory Board at Common Cause North Carolina | Official website
In a recent session, the Republican-led North Carolina legislature introduced significant changes to the state's election system through Senate Bill 382. The bill, originally intended for hurricane relief, was released just an hour before the NC House floor session. Out of 131 pages, only 12 address disaster relief; the rest propose various controversial measures.
One major change involves transferring the power to appoint members of North Carolina's bipartisan State Board of Elections from the Governor to the incoming Republican State Auditor. This move has raised concerns about election administration integrity since this office traditionally hasn't handled such responsibilities.
The bill also proposes reducing timeframes for voters to correct provisional ballot issues and for county boards to count absentee and provisional ballots. Critics argue this could lead to valid ballots being discarded unfairly.
Bob Phillips, executive director of Common Cause North Carolina, expressed strong opposition: “Once again some politicians in the legislature are expressing a deep disdain for our constitutional system of checks and balances... The hurricane relief should be passed without controversial policies attached.”
He emphasized that both Democratic and Republican administrations have benefited from an independent State Board of Elections appointed by the Governor. He criticized legislative leaders' actions as undermining public trust: “This is an insult to the people of North Carolina and it undermines trust in our legislature.”
The bill passed in the NC House with a vote of 63-46 and is now awaiting consideration by the NC Senate.
Phillips concluded by urging lawmakers to focus on their duties: “Instead of lashing out at North Carolina voters, lawmakers should focus on doing their jobs... These proposed election changes are poorly conceived, totally unnecessary, and should be soundly rejected.”
Common Cause North Carolina is a nonpartisan organization advocating for democratic values and accountable governance.
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