NCSBC greatly appreciates inclusion of the voting provisions in H.B. 1169 that address the impact of COVID-19. However, it needs to go further. NCSBC urges the Elections and Ethics Law committee to consider the following additional recommendations.
1. Grant SBE more time to count absentee ballots.
The bill does not include more time for counting absentee ballots. Since the SBE anticipates a surge in ballots near the Election Day deadline, they requested more time to process them. Under the current law, all absentee ballots received on the Saturday before the election must be counted by 5pm on Election Day and the rest must be counted by 10 days after the election. The SBE requested an additional 4 days to count the ballots and asked to eliminate the deadline for ballots received on the Saturday before the election.
2. Remove the following two provisions from the proposed bill.
The bill currently includes the following two provisions that NCSBC is concerned are too restrictive and should be removed.
To require a photo ID for those voting in person.
To make it a Class 1 felony for the State Board of Elections or any of the county boards of election to “send or deliver an absentee ballot to any person who has not requested an absentee ballot.”
If you agree with NCSBCs’ recommendations, please add your name and zip code to the form below. Your name will be added to a letter which will be sent to the committee members.