NC House Bill 958 Would Tighten Overseas Voter Rules, Expand Partisan Elections Staff
A North Carolina House bill would require overseas voters to submit photo ID, ban elections officials from promoting voter turnout, and let the elections director hire 25 partisan staffers exempt from civil service rules.
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA — A comprehensive elections bill set for committee debate would introduce new identification requirements for overseas voters, remove voting eligibility from certain individuals who have never resided in North Carolina, and allow the state elections director to convert 25 staff positions into partisan appointments exempt from civil service protections.
House Bill 958 was scheduled for debate at 10 a.m. Tuesday before the N.C. House Elections Committee. The General Assembly homepage has opened an electronic portal for public comments on the legislation.
New Requirements for Military and Overseas Voters
Under the bill, military and overseas voters would need to submit documentation proving their most recent North Carolina address when they register, and include photo identification with their ballots. According to NC Newsline, that ID requirement would codify a state Supreme Court ruling that emerged from Republican Appeals Court Judge Jefferson Griffin’s failed effort to invalidate ballots in his 2024 race for a state Supreme Court seat.
The bill would also prevent overseas voters who have never lived in North Carolina from casting ballots in state or local elections, even if they currently register in the state on the basis that their parents last resided here. The state Supreme Court addressed this category of voters — referred to in Griffin’s lawsuit as “never residents” — in its ruling on the Griffin case.
The bill would prohibit state and local elections board members from “encouraging or promoting voter turnout in any election.”
Extended Deadlines for Absentee and Provisional Ballots
Voters who cast provisional ballots after failing to show identification, or whose absentee ballot envelopes contain mistakes or omissions — known as “curable deficiencies” — would be given additional time to resolve those issues under the bill. The deadline to correct such problems would move from the Friday following an election to the following Tuesday.
County elections boards would also receive more time to report absentee ballot totals, with the announcement deadline shifting from the Friday after an election to the Tuesday after.
Partisan Staffing Expansion at State Elections Office
The bill would grant state Elections Director Sam Hayes authority to designate 25 members of his staff as political appointees, removing those positions from protections under the state Human Resources Act and making those employees fireable at will.
The legislation would also continue $1.2 million in funding that Hayes received for seven exempt staff positions through a mini-budget the legislature approved last year.
Hayes, who previously served as general counsel to House Speaker Destin Hall, was appointed to lead elections administration after Republicans secured a majority on the state Board of Elections last year, according to NC Newsline.
