Neighbors on Call’s NC Policy Update for 10/07/24

• Hurricane Helene has led to uncertainty for voters in western North Carolina. Voters who are displaced from their homes may request that absentee ballots be sent to the address where they are staying, and if they previously requested that a ballot be sent to a now-inaccessible address, they may contact their local board of elections to “spoil” that ballot and send a new one to their accessible address. Elections boards intend to open early voting on October 17 as planned, but they are still evaluating which early voting locations will not be usable, and many unknowns remain. The State Board of Elections may also seek support from the NCGA for accommodations such as additional money for ballot printing or dispensation to use a web-based voting portal.

Neighbors on Call’s NC Policy Update for 09/30/24

Voting Rights 

• On Tuesday North Carolina counties began distributing absentee ballots to voters who had requested them, following a two-week delay due to a court decision to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name from the ballots. Over 207,000 voters have requested absentee ballots, and voters can continue requesting them until October 29. Following a new Republican-passed law, absentee ballots must be received (rather than postmarked) by 7:30 PM on Election Day to be counted.

• On Thursday the North Carolina Board of Elections announced it had removed around 750,000 voter registrations from the rolls, leading to widespread speculation and misinformation. In reality, this was a standard, non-partisan clean-up of voter rolls that took place over 20 months, and it involved removing registrations for voters who had moved, died, or not voted for two previous federal elections while in inactive status (i.e., missed four federal elections). Nearly half were duplicate registrations for voters who had moved within the state and registered at their new address.

• On Friday the NC Court of Appeals, which consists of 11 Republicans and 4 Democrats, ruled that UNC-Chapel Hill digital IDs cannot be used as voter ID in the upcoming election. The State Board of Elections had approved the use of digital OneCards as voter ID for students, faculty, and staff at UNC-Chapel Hill earlier this fall, but Republicans sued to stop their approval. The OneCard office has agreed to provide free physical OneCards to anyone on campus who only has a mobile OneCard.

Neighbors on Call’s NC Policy Update for 09/23/24

Governance

• On Friday Governor Cooper vetoed the “mini-budget” bill from the NCGA that would give billions to private schools and require sheriffs to cooperate with ICE. HB 10 allocates $5 billion over the next decade to private school vouchers, allowing those on waitlists – including wealthy families who recently became eligible when the program’s income cap was removed – to receive vouchers. While it would also fund priorities like rural broadband, the state’s Medicaid program, and enrollment increases at schools and community colleges, Cooper denounced the private school voucher funding as the “biggest threat to public schools in decades” and mentioned that he has already vetoed the provision to require sheriffs to cooperate with ICE multiple times in previous years.

  
  

Voting Rights 

• On Thursday a Wake County judge ruled that UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty, and staff may use university-issued mobile IDs as voter identification. Republicans had sued to prevent the use of these IDs for voting after the State Board of Elections voted along party lines to approve them as acceptable voter ID. Superior Court Judge Keith Gregory said that state law did not prohibit the use of these IDs for voting, and advocates have pointed out that these IDs would not be used for registering to vote, but rather to prove the identity of already-registered voters.

• After a delay caused by a state Supreme Court ruling to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name from ballots, absentee ballots were sent out to military and overseas voters on Friday, September 20. While this new deadline did not meet state law, which would have required these ballots to be sent by September 6, it does meet federal law, which requires sending them at least 45 days prior to the election. Absentee ballots requested by other voters will begin being sent on September 24.

Economic Policy

• On Wednesday Governor Cooper announced that $67.5 million in stopgap funding will be released for early childhood education and child care centers. This funding was approved by the NCGA to continue pandemic-era federal emergency grant funding through December 31, but the Republican-led NCGA has so far not provided funding beyond that date. If further funding does not materialize, many child care centers will be forced to close.

Justice

• On Wednesday the state Supreme Court heard arguments in five cases challenging a law that makes it easier for childhood victims of sexual abuse to sue. The law in question lifted the three-year statute of limitations for these crimes during a two-year period, from 2020 to 2021, during which anyone could file a lawsuit for child sexual abuse regardless of how long ago it had occurred. However, the law was ruled unconstitutional by a trial court before the end of that period. The NC Court of Appeals later reinstated the law. Lawyers arguing against reinstating the law included those representing school boards and churches, some of whom argued that because these crimes may have happened decades ago, there are no documents remaining for their clients to use as evidence to defend themselves. Advocates for the law pointed out that victims of childhood sexual abuse often aren’t able to seek justice until after the statute of limitations has passed. Justice Allison Riggs recused herself from the cases since she wrote the opinion in favor of reinstating the law while serving on the NC Court of Appeals.