Source: Star-News
Efforts made by North Carolina Republicans to pass numerous anti-voter policies have not gone unnoticed on the national stage. The Institute for Responsive Government, a national organization that focuses on voter access and government accountability, has examined the Republican-held legislature’s policies and determined that their measures restrict voters.
The Institute gave North Carolina an “F” in its 2023 Election Policy Progress Report, due to the legislature’s actions over the past two years. The only other state that received an “F” was South Dakota.
For its report, the Institute for Responsive Government took into account policies surrounding access to automatic voter registration, online voter registration, same-day registration, restoration of rights, vote-by-mail options and early voting opportunities.
For North Carolina, the report states that the “legislature curtailed voter access and stripped the power over election boards from the Governor to give it to themselves.”
In addition, the Institute also highlights efforts to restrict election administration and Senate Bill 747 as North Carolina’s downfalls.
Last year, Senate Bill 747 was introduced by Republican lawmakers as an omnibus voter suppression law.
The law features two controversial measures: banning private grants for election administration and moving up the deadline to receive mail-in ballots from three days after Election Day to 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. According to the Associated Press, the shortened mail-in ballot return window could take away over 10,000 eligible North Carolina voters’ ability to cast a ballot
According to Star-News, the Democratic National Committee and the North Carolina Democratic Party filed a lawsuit challenging the bill.
You can read the report here.
