North Carolina Republicans want to ban election officials from promoting voting

Republican lawmakers in North Carolina are trying to ban state election officials from publicly encouraging people to vote, part of a massive proposed overhaul of elections that a state legislative committee approved Tuesday.

State Republicans included the alarming proposed ban in a 36-page bill that, if passed, would also create new barriers for voters and increase partisan control over North Carolina’s election processes.

The current version of the bill, titled “An Act To Make Various Changes Regarding Election Laws,” would explicitly bar anyone serving on state or county election boards from making “written or oral statements intended for general distribution or dissemination to the public at large encouraging or promoting voter turnout in any election.”

In a statement Monday, the North Carolina chapter of the League of Women Voters, a pro-voting organization, denounced the bill as taking North Carolina “towards a system that not only discourages voting but views voters with suspicion after they have voted, rather than helping eligible voters participate.”

Similarly, the ACLU of North Carolina said the bill “is the latest attempt by lawmakers to strip voters of their power and make the democratic process less fair.”

On Tuesday morning, Republicans advanced the proposal through the North Carolina House Elections Committee. All Democrats on the committee voted against it.

Republicans previously proposed a similar overhaul last year. That legislation never received a floor vote and lay dormant until Republicans released a new version late last week.

Alongside the ban on promoting turnout, the bill would give anyone greater power to challenge the right of any person to participate in early voting. Right-wing activists have used similar laws in other states to sow chaos, delay results and undermine trust in elections. 

The North Carolina proposal would also impose new restrictions on military and overseas voters, including requiring them to submit photo identification with their ballots.

That particular change appears to be motivated by Appeals Court Judge Jefferson Griffin’s failed attempt to overturn his 2024 state supreme court loss. A key part of his attempt was challenging thousands of ballots from North Carolinians serving in the military or living abroad over alleged photo ID issues.

The bill would also give Sam Hayes, a GOP operative and executive director of the State Board of Elections, increased power to hire and fire staffers on the GOP-controlled board for purely political reasons. Significantly, the change would apply to staffers who investigate allegations of election fraud and campaign finance violations.

Republicans on another House committee were expected to take up the proposal Tuesday afternoon, but chose not to. The bill is still officially under consideration, meaning they could advance it another day.

If it passes the House, the bill could change once the state Senate takes it up. And if the GOP-controlled legislature ultimately passes the proposal, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein is expected to veto it. 

Stein’s rejection would likely mark the end of the bill. While Republicans hold a veto-proof majority in the Senate, they are one vote shy of overcoming a gubernatorial veto in the House, and it’s unlikely that any state Democrat would support the overhaul.