Election Law Changes.

The bill version was updated from Edition 7 to Edition 8, reflecting additional committee substitutions and final adoption by the Senate Elections Committee.

New eligibility criteria were established for precinct officials, prohibiting individuals holding other public offices, running for office, or holding party leadership positions from serving as election judges.

A new requirement was introduced to appoint emergency election-day assistants to fill vacancies caused by suspensions, removals, or other emergencies within 48 hours of the polls opening.

The previous detailed rules regarding the timing, location, and public observation of ballot counting procedures were removed.

New provisions were added allowing county boards to suspend or remove precinct officials for incompetence, failure to perform duties, fraud, or other satisfactory causes.

The definition of 'precinct official' was updated to explicitly include assistants appointed under a new section.

The bill header was updated to reflect the progression from Edition 5 to Edition 6, including new dates for committee substitutes and an 'Engrossed' status.

A section marker labeled '*H958-v-5*' was removed and replaced with '*H958-v-6*', indicating the new version number.

The word 'addit' at the end of the document appears to be a truncated version of 'additional', likely a formatting artifact rather than a substantive policy change.

Updated the bill header to reflect the new version number (H958-v-5) and added a new committee substitute date of June 24, 2026.

Revised the text regarding election notice publication to remove the redundant phrase 'the notice shall be in addition to' from the requirement about radio or television notices.

The requirement for vote counting hours was updated to give county boards the authority to specify the exact time and place in their resolution, as long as the time is between 9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. on election day, replacing the previous rule that mandated counting occur strictly within those hours.

The document version was updated from Edition 3 to Edition 4, and a new favorable date of June 16, 2026, was added to the committee substitute header.

Changed the deadline for reviewing provisional ballots from 'no later than 5:00 P.M. on the third fifth business day after the election' to a meeting held by the county board prior to election day, provided notice is given at least two weeks in advance.

Added a requirement that county boards must adopt a resolution at least two weeks before the preparatory meeting for provisional ballot reviews.

Clarified that witnesses are not allowed to participate in the 'counting' of official ballots, removing the redundant word 'official' from the restriction.

Updated the bill header to reflect Committee Substitute #2 dated 7/31/25 and changed the page number from 2 to 3.

The deadline for counting provisional official ballots was changed from election day to no later than 5:00 P.M. on the third Friday after the election.

New requirements mandate that vote counting occur between 9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. on election day at a location specified in a resolution adopted at least two weeks prior.

Requirements for early voting sites were modified to allow county boards to propose plans not to offer early voting at the county board office, provided the State Board approves a plan with adequate geographic coverage.

Original text regarding the State Board's role in recruiting voters and specific subsections of G.S. 163-22 and G.S. 163-90.2 were removed or significantly altered in the rewrite.

New sections were added to recodify existing statutes (G.S. 163-182.2) and establish new subsections (a1 through a4) for ballot counting procedures.

Added a prohibition preventing the State Board of Elections from using its role to recruit voters for specific political parties.

Added a requirement that party designations on ballots must be printed in the same font type and size as the candidate's name.

Added a mandate for county boards to open at least one early voting site for every 30,000 registered voters, with specific security and staffing requirements.

Added a requirement for a random, publicly approved hand-to-eye audit of paper ballots to verify electronic counts.

Modified the rules for counting challenged ballots, specifying that ballots are counted for eligible items unless the voter died between casting the ballot and 6:30 AM on election day.

Modified the criteria for counting provisional ballots to include specific checks on voter registration and precinct eligibility.

The amendment process now specifies a strict deadline for challenges: 5:00 P.M. on the third business day following the primary, general, or county bond election.

The amendment requires that any challenge must address or include information regarding ballots cast under Article 20 and Article 21A of the Chapter.

The amendment reference location was updated from page 7, line 10 to page 9, line 47, and the version number was updated from v.1 to v.1 (with document ID changes from A1 to A5).

Updated bill version identifier from H958-ABKe-54 to H958-ABKe-60.

Changed the sponsor designation from Representative Blackwell to Senator Daniel.

Updated the Principal Clerk's Office reference from House to Senate.

Corrected the amendment instruction page reference from page 22 to page 7.

Updated the edition number from Fifth Edition to Seventh Edition.

Removed a proposed amendment that would have allowed evidence of noise outside public buildings to be used to prove violations of the bill.

Updated document versioning from House version A2 to Senate version A1 and adjusted page references accordingly.

Added a specific instruction to amend the bill by inserting new text that allows evidence of disruptive noise outside public buildings to be used as proof of a violation of election laws.

Removed the original bill text containing six sections regarding voter education, ballot challenges, party designations, early voting sites, and hand-to-eye counts.

Added amendment header information, including the amendment number placeholder, date, and signature lines for the sponsor and committee chair.