House Bill 958 Threatens Voting Rights and Free, Fair Elections
Governor Josh Stein last week followed through on his announced intention to veto HB 958, a package of destructive partisan changes to North Carolina elections laws.
In announcing his veto, Governor Stein declared, “The General Assembly wants to make it harder for people to vote and easier to throw out votes they don’t like after Election Day. This damaging bill eliminates a week of early voting in the primary, invites sore losers to try to overturn general elections by throwing out people’s votes after the race is over, and sows distrust in our elections. Instead of trying to undermine our democracy to cling to power, the legislature should focus on improving people’s lives and winning elections fair and square. I am vetoing this anti-voter legislation, and I urge North Carolinians to call their legislators to ask them to uphold my veto. In our democracy, political power rests with you – the people. I intend to keep it that way.”
Restricting North Carolinians’ Access to Voting
Among other bad provisions, HB 958 would have:
- Shortened early voting – now the most popular form of voting in North Carolina – from 17 days to 10 days.
- Given candidates, party officials, and others new ways to challenge early and absentee voters and attempt to reverse the results after elections have already taken place. (These challenges could not be made against election-day votes, the method which is now disproportionately used by Republican voters.)
- Handed more authority over elections to a Republican State Auditor whose office has already pressured local election boards to shorten early voting, eliminate Sunday voting, and remove polling places from college campuses.
- Replaced professional State Board of Elections staff with partisan political appointees.
- Weakened campaign finance reporting requirements, avoiding public transparency about who is financing candidates’ campaigns.
Your Vote Matters
“This bill was never about election security,” said NC Senator Sydney Batch (D-Wake). “It is about a party that is scared of its own voters.”
“I’m here to tell you that your vote does matter, whether they want it to or not,” added NC Representative Robert Reives (D-Chatham). “The right to vote was fought for over decades, but the fight never ended. It just changed, and we are still in it.”
Stand with Communities & Leaders Fighting for Free, Fair Elections
We’ve joined other citizen advocacy and government groups in fighting against changes threatening the right to vote and participate in fair elections. Voting is the most important tool we have to hold elected officials accountable for their actions impacting clean air and water, public health, and natural resources.
Alongside HB 958, Governor Stein vetoed HB 377. Learn more about how HB 377 threatens our fair and independent court system.
