GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2019

SESSION LAW 2019-4

SENATE BILL 214

AN ACT to delay the implementation of the regulatory requirements of s.l. 2018‑144 in order to ensure the efficient administration of unexpected special elections.

Whereas, in November 2018, the voters of North Carolina approved a constitutional amendment requiring every voter offering to vote in person to present photographic identification before voting; and

Whereas, the approved constitutional amendment became effective upon certification of the November 6, 2018, election results; and

Whereas, the General Assembly of North Carolina enacted S.L. 2018‑144 in December 2018, setting forth the general laws governing the requirements of photographic identification for voting in person and the exceptions thereto, and setting forth a time line of implementation for the 2019 elections and thereafter; and

Whereas, S.L. 2018‑144 also contained reforms to the process of absentee voting by mail and those reforms require rule making and other implementation efforts from the State Board of Elections; and

Whereas, in February 2019, the need for a special congressional election to fill a vacancy in the United States House of Representatives has arisen due to unforeseen circumstances, and the Governor has determined a schedule for such special election; and

Whereas, in March 2019, the State Board of Elections issued an order to conduct a new election in a separate United States House of Representatives district and has determined a schedule for such new election; and

Whereas, the schedule of the two additional elections generates concerns about the ability of the county boards of election and the State Board of Elections to ensure uniformity in the requirement to present photographic identification before voting in person; and

Whereas, the absentee voting by mail reforms in S.L. 2018‑144 require rule making and other administrative procedures on the part of the State Board of Elections which will not be completed prior to the two additional 2019 congressional elections; and

Whereas, the State Board of Elections needs legislative clarity regarding absentee voting by mail in order to conduct the two additional 2019 congressional elections in an orderly fashion; Now, therefore,

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  S.L. 2018‑144 shall not apply to any election held in 2019 for which the filing period opens prior to the date set forth in Section 1.5(a)(8) of S.L. 2018‑144.

SECTION 1.(b)  Notwithstanding Section 1(a) of this act, all implementation and educational efforts set forth in S.L. 2018‑144 during 2019 by the State and counties shall continue.

SECTION 2.  Section 2 of S.L. 2018‑146 is repealed.

SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 13^th day of March, 2019.

                                                                    s/  Daniel J. Forest

                                                                         President of the Senate

                                                                    s/  Tim Moore

                                                                         Speaker of the House of Representatives

                                                                    s/  Roy Cooper

                                                                         Governor

Approved 7:49 a.m. this 14^th day of March, 2019