NC lawmakers look to combat ballot fraud and restore a popular day of early voting

RALEIGH -- State Senate leaders have fast-tracked a bill to crack down on absentee ballot fraud and restore early voting hours on the final Saturday before elections.

Responding to complaints that early voting currently ends on the Friday before the election — eliminating the popular final Saturday hours — Senate Bill 683 would require counties to open early voting sites from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on that Saturday, with the option to keep sites open as late as 5 p.m.

The bill also appears designed to address the absentee ballot fraud allegations in the 9th Congressional District election last year.

It would keep private the list of people who requested absentee ballots until the day of the election; that information is currently a public record, and it was allegedly referenced by campaign workers who used it to count likely votes.

Read more: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article232320187.html
(Raleigh News & Observer)