North Carolina on Offense: The Path Forward to Strengthen Our Elections
North Carolina’s elections follow a rigorous system of checks and balances that ensures every election is free, fair, and secure. In recent years, however, we’ve seen bad actors exploit weaknesses in state law, fueling misinformation, legal battles, and spurious attempts to overturn the will of the voters.
This fact sheet outlines three commonsense policy solutions that North Carolina lawmakers and election administrators can consider to close those gaps — before and after Election Day.* For a deeper dive into the national context and proven solutions, see our full report, “States on Offense: The Path Forward to Strengthen Our Elections.” For more information, please contact us here.
Three Fixes for Stronger North Carolina Elections
- Protect voters and ensure timely results by clarifying standards and deadlines for post-election judicial challenges.
- Build confidence in election results by ensuring a bipartisan team oversees the canvassing and certification of election results.
- Protect military and overseas voters by removing barriers to registration and voting abroad.
| North Carolina Elections By the Numbers |
|---|
| Registered Voters: 7,572,738 Voter Turnout (Registered Voters %): 2022 [58%] 2024 [82%] |
| Voting Methods (Election Day/Early In-Person/Mail %): 2022: 42%/51%/5%; 2024: 20%/73%/5% |
| Recent Attempts to Exploit Election Vulnerabilities: Challenge in State Supreme Court Race Resolved in Favor of Leading Vote-Getter After Six-Month Fight Lawsuits Seek to Disqualify Overseas Voters Prior to 2024 Election |
Fix #1: Protect Voters and Ensure Timely Results
Lawmakers can limit post-election challenges to explicit grounds and set firm deadlines for courts to resolve them.
The recent prolonged legal battle over the state Supreme Court race exposed gaps in North Carolina’s post-election challenge process. Current law does not specify whether challenges that could have been resolved before the election can be raised after an election. The state also lacks clear deadlines for resolving these challenges.
Fix #2: Build Confidence Through Bipartisan Canvassing and Certification Process
Lawmakers can require bipartisan votes to initiate disputes during canvassing and make it clear that boards have a clear, non-discretionary duty to certify county elections and submit results to the state board once canvassing is complete.
County election boards are responsible for canvassing and certifying elections. While recent legislation has targeted the composition of the board, it was designed to be bipartisan to maintain voters’ trust. While current law grants county boards some authority to investigate disputed ballots during the canvassing phase, boards are prohibited from engaging in unfounded investigations once canvassing is complete.
Fix #3: Protect Military and Overseas Voters
Lawmakers can strengthen protections to ensure military and overseas voters can register and cast their ballots with the same confidence as those voting at home.
Before and after the 2024 elections, North Carolina faced litigation aimed at making it harder for military and overseas voters to cast ballots. This is a troubling national trend that has emerged over the last few years. Federal law guarantees these voters the freedom to vote in their home state, but state law can do more to remove unnecessary barriers to registration and voting from abroad.
*This resource is strictly nonpartisan and for educational use only. It is 501(c)(3) compliant and not intended for any partisan, political, or electioneering activities.