By admin 
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein said Tuesday night he plans to veto one of two election bills sent to his desk on Tuesday, but Republicans say any veto override won’t happen until after the election.
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Stein said he will veto House Bill 958, which passed along party lines. It would shorten early voting for primary elections, expand post-election ballot challenges and make several other changes to election procedures.
“I will veto House Bill 958 because it makes it harder for you to vote, introduces unnecessary chaos into our elections, and invites sore losers to try to overturn an election they lost,” Stein said in a social media post.
The bill’s most controversial provision would reduce early voting for primaries and runoffs from 17 days to 10.
“When you look at the stats, most people don’t use most of these days, and obviously primaries are lower turnout. Reducing that still gives more than enough time,” said House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Caldwell).
Barring any emergencies like hurricanes, Hall said there won’t be any scheduled votes, including veto overrides, until after the November general election.
“We’ll be back in November, and I imagine we’ll deal with that matter if he vetoes it. And hopefully we’ll be able to override that,” he said. “It’s important to remember that deals with primary elections. We didn’t mess with early voting in the general election, although there are some folks who would like to see that get done.”
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The bill would also require post-election audits and expand data sharing with federal agencies for frequent voter roll maintenance. It would also make it easier to bring post-election ballot challenges, while reducing the time to file them from five days to three days.
“This isn’t over. This isn’t just about these bills,” said Democratic House Leader Robert Reives (D-Chatham).
Reives said Democrats will continue to fight any efforts they believe will limit access to the ballot box.
“I think we should respect the will of the voters. I think we should be encouraging everyone to vote,” he said.
However, the governor did not indicate whether he would veto House Bill 834, which makes changes to election administration and gives voters more time to fix certain issues with ballots after an election.
It also allows judicial review of State Board of Elections decisions to be heard either in Wake County or the county where the plaintiff lives.
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