NC Republicans’ bill would end grace period for mail-in voting, empower poll observers

House Republicans advanced a slightly diluted version of a sweeping elections bill, still aiming to make significant changes to absentee voting and poll observers but removing certain controversial provisions that were included in the original.

The original bill, Senate Bill 747, contained a series of what supporters described as election integrity measures, including setting an Election Day deadline for receiving absentee ballots, making voters using same-day registration cast provisional ballots and prohibiting private money in election administration.

Democrats argue that these measures would make it more difficult to vote and easier to throw out legitimate ballots.

The bill has sat in limbo for several months since passing the Senate in June. Now, the House has unveiled its own version of the legislation, which passed the House Elections Committee on Tuesday.

The new bill keeps most of the bones, but softens certain sections and removes others that critics had called impractical. For same-day registrants, those registering to vote during the early voting period, the House’s bill does not require them to cast provisional ballots, which are normally used for those whose eligibility as voters are questioned. But it does require that they use a “retrievable ballot,” meaning that their vote may be thrown out if the county board of elections cannot verify their address.

Two of the most significant provisions in the original bill are left largely unchanged.

Just like in the old version, the deadline to receive absentee ballots would be set at 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. Currently, absentee ballots can be accepted up to three days past Election Day.

Also, election boards at the state and local level would be prohibited from accepting any private monetary donations to help conduct elections.

What’s in and out of the elections bill?

Senate leader Phil Berger said he was aware that members of each chamber had discussed changes to the legislation.

“It’s our expectation and hope that the House — whatever they move forward on — is something that our folks are aware of so that we don’t end up with with a hiccup there,” he said. “But we’ve had hiccups before.”

The bill also expands the ability of partisan poll observers to observe election procedures, though not as extensively as an earlier bill, House Bill 772. The earlier bill would have given observers broad access to voting enclosures, even allowing them some opportunities to take photos and video. The new bill takes out some of these permissions, but still clarifies that observers may hear conversations between election officials and voters, move around the voting space and see setup and tear down procedures.

Sections that Democrats had called impractical in the original bill are absent from the new version.

The House’s version removes a provision that would have required two-factor authentication for absentee ballots without laying out a specific process to achieve this.

The new version also softens a requirement to verify signatures on absentee ballots. The original bill would have required all absentee ballots to go through a signature matching process in the 2024 general election following a pilot program in the primaries. The new version institutes only the pilot program — which cannot throw any ballots out for failing a signature match — and leaves open the possibility for signature matching in the general election depending on the results of the pilot.

Democrats in Tuesday’s committee hearing offered many amendments to the bill, attempting to reinstate the mail-in grace period, pare down observer access and pursue a variety of other changes. None were accepted by the committee.

House Democratic Leader Robert Reives and Senate Democratic Leader Dan Blue released a joint statement denouncing the bill on Tuesday.

“This legislation is yet another example of Republican leadership making it harder for North Carolinians to vote,” the statement said. “It opens the door for voter intimidation at polling places, completely undermines same-day registration during early voting and makes it easier to toss out valid ballots. These changes do not improve the integrity of our elections — if anything, they erode the trust of voters.”

Republicans argue that the changes increase trust in elections without impeding the right to vote.

“Making Election Day the official deadline removes confusion and skepticism from the minds of voters,” Republican Sen. Paul Newton, the bill’s sponsor, said in a press release when the bill was first introduced. “It will make for a quicker declaration of winners, it aligns us with 30 other states, and it helps North Carolina move past each election cycle with confidence, instead of doubt.”

The House has not moved on a separate major elections bill from the Senate. In June, Senate Republicans passed a bill, Senate Bill 749, to drastically restructure state and local election boards, making them evenly bipartisan and appointed by the legislature rather than the governor.

Berger told reporters there were still concerns to be addressed in SB 749, specifically concerning the structure of local election boards.

“We’ll see where we end up,” he said.