Stein vetoes Republican-backed ‘anti-voter’ North Carolina elections bill

Republicans said the changes would make elections more secure and more efficient, but Democrats called it a “power grab.” 

“Our right to vote is precious. It’s the fundamental right that underpins every other right that we possess,” Stein said during a ceremony at the executive mansion, flanked by Democratic state lawmakers. “That’s why I will always protect you and your right to vote, and that’s why I am vetoing this anti-voter law today.”

In both chambers of the legislature, only Republicans voted to pass H958. Republicans hold a three-fifths supermajority in the Senate, allowing them to override a gubernatorial veto along party lines. But they don’t have a supermajority in the House, so Stein’s veto could withstand a legislative challenge unless Democrats or unaffiliated lawmakers vote with GOP lawmakers.

Veto coming on the GOP’s big elections bill, NC Gov. Stein says

House Republicans plan to try to override the veto, according to Rep. Hugh Blackwell, R-Burke, chair of the House Election Law Committee.

“House Bill 958 continues practical election reforms so we all can have greater confidence that every lawful vote in North Carolina is counted fairly and accurately,” Blackwell said in a statement. “Gov. Stein’s veto of this legislation puts politics ahead of common sense and the peace of mind voters should have when they cast their ballots.”

Republican legislative leaders have said they don’t intend to take any further votes this year until after the November election.

Stein and other Democratic leaders accused GOP lawmakers of attempting to stay in power by rewriting election law, instead of appealing to voters by passing legislation to fund education or lower the cost of healthcare. 

“The Republican General Assembly simply does not have confidence that it can win elections on their record. They are scared of you, and they are scared of your vote,” Stein said. “It is wrong, and I am fed up.”

“This bill passed along party lines because it only benefits one party,” House Democratic Leader Robert Reives, D-Chatham, said. “One party controls the rules by which these elections are run, and now one party controls the state board of elections and its partisan operatives.”

Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch, D-Wake, criticized members of the GOP for a 2024 measure that stripped power away from the governor under the guise of a Hurricane Helene relief bill.

The plan shifted control of the state’s Board of Elections to the state auditor’s office, held by a Republican. North Carolina is the only state in the country where the auditor wields this authority.

“This is a party scared of its own voters,” Batch said. “Now Republicans face a choice: Side with the voters in North Carolina who have already asked for fair and free elections, or override the governor’s veto in yet another disingenuous effort to maintain political power.”

State Republicans have also gerrymandered legislative and congressional maps since 2011, ensuring their majorities. 

A court ordered the drawing of a nonpartisan congressional map for the 2022 elections, which resulted in both parties holding seven of North Carolina’s 14 U.S. House seats. After Republicans won a majority on the state Supreme Court in 2022, they approved a new map, which included 10 Republican seats, three for Democrats, and one toss-up.

Following orders from President Donald Trump, Republicans in the General Assembly redrew the maps in 2025 yet again to make the lone toss-up seat, the 1st Congressional District, lean more heavily toward the GOP.