State House Republicans on Tuesday advanced a sweeping bill that would make a number of changes to state election laws if enacted. The bill moved through one committee and is expected to be considered on the House floor later this week.
The bill would still need to go to the Senate after that. The public can weigh in on the measure through an online comment portal here.
Here’s a sampling of what’s in House Bill 958:
- Never Residents: As part of his unsuccessful effort to overturn his defeat in the 2024 state Supreme Court race, Republican Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin falsely accused a number of voters of never residing in the state. State Board of Elections Executive Director Sam Hayes told The Assembly that he’d review a list of 30 people that Griffin wrongly labeled as “never residents” and ensure every eligible voter can cast a ballot.
Under House Bill 958, actual “never residents”—U.S. citizens who have never resided in the U.S. but whose parent or legal guardian that was last domiciled in North Carolina—would only be able to vote in federal elections. Those wanting to vote in state elections—likely including the falsely accused “never residents”—would need to provide residency documentation containing the address of the last place in the state they lived before leaving the U.S. - Staff Up: A mini budget passed last year let Hayes spend $1.2 million to hire seven like-minded political appointees. Now, under HB 958, he could also replace as many as 25 of the 65 full-time NCSBE employees.
That was also in a version of the bill proposed last year, but Democrats and voting access groups expressed concern it would lead to more partisanship, and Hayes said at the time that he didn’t ask for that much hiring latitude. Lawmakers then updated the bill to allow for up to five more political appointees. Now, they’ve moved it back to 25. Jason Tyson, a spokesman for Hayes, said the executive director has never fired anyone or asked anyone to step down since taking office in May 2025 and has promoted several longtime civil servants. - Keep Quiet: Lawmakers did a similar 360-degree rotation on a provision banning state and county elections officials from “encouraging or promoting voter turnout in any election.” It was in an early version of the bill, got stripped, and now it’s back in.
- More Time to Fix Ballots: The bill would give voters more time to remedy issues with their mail-in and provisional ballots. Currently, voters have until noon on Friday after the election to remedy issues with their provisional ballots (often by bringing a photo ID to a county elections office) or cure any mail-in ballot deficiencies (such as a missing signature or a failure to enclose a copy of a photo ID in their return envelope). The bill’s new deadline would be noon on the Tuesday after the election. County election officials would also have one business day after reviewing a mail-in ballot to notify the voter of any issues by mail. The voter could also be contacted by phone or email.
- Speed Up the Counting: Under current law, if ballots cast during the early voting period are counted electronically, those ballots must be counted when polls close on Election Day. Paper ballots can be manually counted starting at 5 p.m. on Election Day (the same time as mail-in ballots). HB 958 seeks to allow counties to begin counting early votes and mail-in votes starting at 9 a.m. on Election Day.
- Party Switchers: In the 2026 primary, a number of registered Democrats and unaffiliated voters switched their party affiliation to Republican in long-shot quests to unseat GOP incumbents. While those efforts failed, GOP lawmakers want to prevent similar situations going forward. State law currently allows people to switch party affiliations 90 days before the candidate filing deadline. The bill would change that to one year. The only exception would be if an aspiring officeholder obtains a waiver from the state executive committee of the political party they are seeking to run under.
- Municipal Elections: In odd-numbered years, candidates running in a nonpartisan municipal election have their primary in October and general election (or sometimes a runoff) in November. Starting next year, the bill would bump those primaries up a month to September, with the general election or required runoff in November. The provision aims to avoid consecutive months of elections.
- Judicial Review: When someone wants a court to rebuke a decision the State Board of Elections has made, the petition currently goes to the Wake County Superior Court, which tends to be more politically liberal. Lawmakers want to change that so the petitioner can file with the superior court of the county in which they reside.
- Ranked Choice Voting Ban: North Carolina wouldn’t be able to hold any election under a format that allows a voter to rank candidates in order of preference.
- Petition Gatherers: To form a new political party or get on a ballot as an unaffiliated or write-in candidate, a certain number of signatures are required. Starting December 1, it’d be a misdemeanor to pay petition gatherers based on the number of signatures collected.
- Emboldened Auditor: After each election, county and state officials conduct a number of audits to evaluate their operations. HB 958 would allow Republican Auditor Dave Boliek to select counties that he’d like to be part of an additional post-election audit. The NCSBE, county boards of elections, and Division of Motor Vehicles would need to turn over “any materials, equipment, personnel, or software” Boliek’s office needs to perform the audit.
- Signature Verification: A new pilot program would study the feasibility of implementing a signature verification component for mail-in ballots. The NCSBE would need to report its findings to state lawmakers by May 1, 2027.
