RALEIGH, N.C. (July 28, 2026) – Today, North Carolina lawmakers passed a long germinating anti-voter monster election law, proving that in this moment certain state leaders are more interested in pushing through extremist agendas over prioritizing the good of all North Carolinians, who want nothing more than to have their state and communities funded and election access protected.
House Bill 958 was originally filed on April 10, 2025, as an omnibus bill that proposed a multitude of election administrative changes. At various points it modified ballot counting deadlines, made changes to the voter registration form by requiring full social security numbers, and required photo ID for military and overseas voters. As of this week, the bill’s latest PCS removes, updates, or expands various provisions, as well as additional elements – some of which are beneficial to voters and election administration work, but the vast majority of which create barriers to the ballot box, including:
- Requiring the state DMV to provide voter registration and list maintenance data to the NC State Board of Elections on a routine monthly schedule, as well as the full social security numbers of voters to the SBOE. Currently voters need to only include the last four digits of their SSN OR their NC Driver’s License or DMV ID number.
- Shortening early voting for primaries and special elections from 17 to 10 days
- Allowing for post-election day challenges of eligible votes if a candidate isn’t happy with the election’s outcome
- Requiring the State Auditor to conduct post-election audits of county election systems, with every county audited at least once every six years. The State Auditor has discretion over how many audits they do, so theoretically an audit could happen in every race, in every county across the state.
“We’ve been closely monitoring this legislation since it was first introduced – it’s a lengthy and complicated bill that was problematic enough when it was first proposed. Now, here in 2026, legislators’ persistence in pushing through this bad bill reveals just how misplaced the priorities of lawmakers are at this moment,” said Brian Kennedy, Policy Director with Democracy North Carolina. “When major election changes arrive before a historic election, it shows state leadership would rather prioritize protecting their own power over the rights of the very people they were elected to protect.”
“There are positive elements in this bill legislators have worked to include at various points over the last year and change – expanding poll observer access, increasing county board member pay for meetings, allowing boards to begin counting early voting and most absentee ballots on Election Day. We commend the inclusion of proactive and pro-democracy changes. Unfortunately, blending these positive provisions with so many anti-voter components makes them all but null, and as it stands, the bill does far more harm than good. Until lawmakers can move forward pro-voter legislation that isn’t peppered with extremist, self-serving election law changes, they should not move forward with HB 958, HB 384, or any other election bill that has the effect of disenfranchising voters.”
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Democracy North Carolina is a statewide nonpartisan organization that uses research, organizing, and advocacy to strengthen democratic structures, build power among disenfranchised communities, and inspire confidence in a transformed political process that works for all.