Democrats propose constitutional amendment to protect early voting in North Carolina

Democratic state lawmakers on Tuesday proposed a constitutional amendment that would guarantee North Carolinians at least 14 days of in-person early voting for each election. That’s after Republican senators introduced legislation that would shorten the state’s current early voting period.

House Bill 1240, sponsored by Rep. Rodney Pierce (D-Halifax), would create a constitutional right to vote early in person in primary and general elections held in even-numbered years.

The proposal would require at least 14 days of early voting and preserve same-day voter registration during the early voting period. It also would set minimum hours for early voting sites while leaving county election boards in charge of selecting sites and staffing.

The proposal comes weeks after Republican senators introduced Senate Bill 1084, which would reduce North Carolina’s early voting period from 17 days to 10. Republican lawmakers have said a shorter early voting period would reduce staffing and administrative demands on county election offices.

More than 4.2 million North Carolinians cast ballots during the 2024 general election’s early voting period, accounting for nearly three-fourths of all votes cast, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections. 

Pierce also pointed to elections board data showing that more than 712,000 voters cast ballots during this year’s primary early voting period, a record for a midterm primary.

“Early voting isn’t a partisan issue. This is the way that North Carolina votes,” Pierce said. He noted that eight of the 11 counties with the highest early voting participation in the 2024 general election are represented by Republicans in the General Assembly.

Pierce said he settled on a 14-day minimum after consulting the North Carolina Association of Directors of Elections.

“They do want some sort of reduction,” Pierce said of election directors. “I thought a fair compromise would be two weeks, as opposed to two and a half.”

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To amend the state constitution, the proposal must win support from three-fifths of the members of both the House and Senate before it can go before voters statewide. 

Republicans hold a supermajority in both chambers, making Democratic support alone insufficient to advance the measure.Its odds of moving forward this session appear to be slim. But if it’s approved by lawmakers, voters would decide the amendment on the November 2026 ballot.

Democrats said the amendment is intended to prevent future legislatures from making major changes to early voting without voter approval.

“This constitutional amendment shouldn’t be necessary, but North Carolina recently has a history of trying to suppress votes,” said Rep. Marcia Morey (D-Durham).

Neither House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell) nor Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham) immediately responded to NC Newsline’s request for comment on the proposal.