Fighting ‘For the People’

‘FOR THE PEOPLE’ AGENDA: North Carolina and Nationally

In 2019, the U.S. House approved  a historic democracy reform bill known as H.R. 1, or the For the People Act. It would make it easier for voters to cast a ballot and harder for lawmakers to gerrymander, transform how campaigns are funded to amplify the voices of ordinary Americans, and bolster election security and government ethics.  In the same year, N.C. lawmakers have introduced dozens of bills to reform the state’s broken redistricting process, reduce harms of a new photo ID requirement to vote, modernize voter registration and expand voting access, and limit the corrupting role of money in politics.

NC’s ‘for the people’ agenda is anchored by 5 key proposals: 

#1- Restoration of the Final Saturday of Early Voting
In 2018, lawmakers passed S325, a law that required uniform 12-hour (7 a.m.-7 p.m.) weekday Early Voting hours in all 100 counties, and eliminated voting on the popular final Saturday before Election Day. House Bill 893 would restore the final Saturday of Early Voting and put the flexibility to determine Early Voting schedules and sites back in the hands of the county Boards of Elections where it belongs.

#2- Gold Standard Citizens Redistricting Commission

Gold Standard Citizens Redistricting Commission
Senate Bill 673’s ‘gold standard’ redistricting reform legislation would create a citizen-led, independent redistricting commission that would take the power to draw maps away from lawmakers, remove the incentive to rig maps regardless of who’s in power, and elevate citizen input and partisanship. This transformational bill is one of seven redistricting reform options introduced in the 2019 long session.

#3- Pro-Voter Reforms for People Serving Felony Sentences
Under current law, North Carolinians convicted of a felony lose their voting rights until their sentence is complete, including any time on probation. Disenfranchising those who are living and working in our communities while completing their sentence is confusing for probation officers, election officials, and the individuals themselves. While there aren’t currently any bills that would address this specific issue, House Bill 819 would remove the possibility of people serving felony sentences being charged with a second felony simply because they misunderstand the law, allowing justice-involved North Carolinians to vote without fear.

#4- Online and Automatic Voter Registration
Several bills would establish Online Voter Registration (OVR), allowing voters to register, check and update their registration through a secure and accessible online portal (currently available in 37 states), and/or Automatic Voter Registration (AVR), making voter registration at state agencies an “opt-out” versus an “opt-in.” They include House Bill 574 Fix Our Democracy. (=SB641), House Bill 589 Let NC Vote Act., and Senate Bill 641 Fix Our Democracy.

#5- Regulate Digital Campaign Communications
House Bill 700 would define and regulate “qualified digital communications” as part of political advertising disclosures. This timely, bipartisan legislation would help modernize N.C.’s political disclosure laws which currently omit references to digital ads, a major oversight at a time when foreign agents are actively using digital communications to undermine our nation’s democracy.