Berger Calls to Shorten Early Voting After Primary Loss

Phil Berger said this week that he’s mulling some changes to election laws as the General Assembly resumes work for the first time since the Republican state Senate leader lost his reelection bid. 

In his first media availability since the March primary, Berger said he thinks that the early voting period should be shorter, at least in primaries.

“The biggest complaint that I got from folks was the number of days of early voting,” Berger said. “It’s something that we probably need to take another look at, particularly in the primaries. I don’t know in the general election where you have a lot more people showing up, but certainly in the primaries 17 days of early voting just seemed pretty excessive. It really stresses the local boards of elections.”

Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page beat Berger by 23 votes, in part because he turned out more supporters during early voting. Page captured 54% of the early vote across Guilford and Rockingham counties, while Berger secured 53% of votes cast on Election Day.

Despite the loss, Berger remains in charge of the Senate for the short session that started Tuesday. He has broad power to set the chamber’s agenda, so his comments could be an indication that the Senate will take up voting legislation this year. But it’s not clear whether his fellow Republicans will fall in line for his waning months in office.

After all ballots were counted last month, Berger sought to leapfrog the traditional recount process and asked the Republican-controlled State Board of Elections to greenlight a full hand recount. The board declined those requests. After a machine recount and partial hand recount didn’t change the outcome, Berger conceded.

Berger said Tuesday that he still believes the NCSBE had discretionary authority to do what he had asked, but he said he has no plans to change any state laws governing recounts.

“The board made a decision,” Berger said. “That decision is accepted by me. It’s a done deal, finished, over with.”

But he soured when asked what message he felt voters sent him.

“I think that Democrats like to vote in some Republican primaries,” Berger said. “I think that’s the message.”

Under state law, registered Democrats aren’t allowed to vote in GOP primaries. They could, however, switch their party registration to unaffiliated and participate in the Republican primary. 

It’s impossible to say how many Democrats may have done that to help unseat Berger because voters’ selections at the ballot box are confidential. Chris Cooper, a Western Carolina University political scientist, said party-switching didn’t appear to be particularly “heightened” in the Berger-Page race. But given how close the final tally was, it’s possible a few left-leaning unaffiliated voters  impacted the outcome.

Republicans passed a law in 2023 requiring all political parties to let unaffiliated voters cast a ballot in the primary of their choice.

Sen. Kevin Corbin of Macon County, a co-sponsor of that bill, previously told The Assembly it’s important for the GOP to engage unaffiliated voters. “Why cut them off?” he said. “Voters get muscle memory. If they vote for you in the primary, they’re more likely to vote for you in the general.”

Berger said he’ll serve out the remainder of his term, but he’s unsure of his plans after that.

“I intend to complete my term, complete the responsibilities that I have as president pro tem,” Berger said. “What happens after that really I have not spent a whole lot of time on. We’ll figure that out when we get to that point.”

Three senators already have said they’d like to succeed Berger: Ralph Hise of Mitchell County, Michael Lee of New Hanover County, and Todd Johnson of Union County. Berger said he won’t weigh in on his successor: “I have no intention of getting involved.”