NC voters are at a crossroads. These bills restore confidence in elections. | Opinion

Editor’s note: We asked writers with different political perspectives to weigh in on election law changes pending in the N.C. legislature. The other perspective is here.

Voters in North Carolina are at a crossroads. Political polarization is high, an overwhelming majority of voters feel the country is on the wrong track, and as we barrel toward a raucous 2024 election cycle confidence in our elections remains dangerously low.

How bad is it? Recent Civitas polling shows that only half of North Carolinians believe our elections will be free and fair.

The most important thing Republicans and Democrats can do for the state is pass a bipartisan elections bill. We invite Democrats in the General Assembly to work with Republicans on legislation to restore public confidence in our elections.

Republicans in the legislature have taken a pragmatic approach to restoring faith in an increasingly skeptical population of voters. We took a serious look at election integrity flaws in our state and filed two bills that will make considerable improvements.

Senate Bill 747 will make Election Day the final day to collect ballots, prohibit donations from out-of-state billionaires from being used for election administration, and address the loophole of having votes counted before a voter’s registration is confirmed. A separate bill, Senate Bill 749, will move the State Board of Elections (SBOE) from a one-party rule structure to a bipartisan, evenly split board made up of appointments from majority and minority leaders in the General Assembly.

These are common-sense proposals that will keep voting in North Carolina accessible for all and force bipartisan consensus among election officials.

Democrats are predictably enraged about these two bills. It’s not because any of the provisions in them pose a “threat to democracy” — a lucrative talking point fit for fundraising emails. The protests coming from the left are because the bills will put an end to the one-party control of our election administration that Democrats have been taking advantage of.

That means no more collusive settlements between the Democrat-controlled SBOE and liberal attorneys, no more disregarding state laws to achieve partisan policy goals, and no more campaign strategists having a say in selecting the state elections director.

And since the policy is sound, some Democrats decided their best chance to stop these pro-voter reforms is to purport that North Carolina’s elections are going to be rigged to ensure Republican victory.

Those allegations are far more detrimental than typical political hyperbole. The blatantly false claims directly contribute to the lack of faith in our elections. Democrats are seizing the opportunity to throw out these allegations and betting most people won’t read beyond the headlines and social media posts generated by their empty rhetoric.

For example, the governor tweeted “Don’t be fooled. This isn’t about protecting elections. It’s about rigging them to help Republicans.” Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue says he’s being “gaslighted” and our bills go “straight to the heart of democracy.”

How will making Election Day the deadline to collect ballots, a policy shared by President Biden’s home state of Delaware, rig elections? How is taking the State Board of Elections out of one-party control not in the best interest of democracy?

We heard the same complaints when lawmakers in Georgia reformed election laws in 2021. Businesses boycotted the state and liberal media pushed unfounded claims that voter suppression would reign. President Biden even called the law “Jim Crow in the 21st Century.” Yet, last month we learned that Georgia voters led the Southeast region in turnout and participation rates in the 2022 midterm elections.

Republicans are making earnest efforts to increase voter confidence in North Carolina’s elections with common-sense policies that voters of all affiliations can get behind. Nothing in SB 747 or 749 drives a partisan advantage. Democrats should stop the damage they are causing by telling voters that the state’s elections are going to be rigged, and join us in improving the administration of elections in North Carolina.