Opinion ID: 2738874
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Early Voting

Text: “No-excuse” early voting was established for even-year general elections in North Carolina beginning in 2000. 1999 N.C. Sess. Law 455, § 1 (codified at N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 163226(a1), 163-227.2(a1) (2000)). At that point, a registered voter could present herself at her county board of elections office “[n]ot earlier than the first business day after the twenty-fifth day before an election . . . and not later than 5:00 p.m. on the Friday prior to that election” to cast her ballot. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-227.2(b) (2000). After the 2000 election cycle, the General Assembly expanded no-excuse early voting to all elections. 2001 N.C. Sess. Law 337, § 1. It also amended the early-voting period so that voters could appear at the county board of elections office to vote “[n]ot earlier than the third Thursday before an election . . . and not later than 1:00 P.M. on the last Saturday before that election.” 2001 N.C. Sess. Law 319, § 5(a) (codified at N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-227.2(b) (2002)). Under this law, county boards of elections were required to remain open for voting until 1:00 p.m. on that final Saturday, but retained the discretion to allow voting until 5:00 p.m. Id. They were also permitted to maintain early-voting hours during the evening or on weekends throughout the early-voting period. Id. § 5(b) (codified at N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-227.2(f) (2002)). 18 House Bill 589 changes the law to allow only ten days of early voting. It also eliminates the discretion county boards of elections had to stay open until 5:00 p.m. on the final Saturday of early voting. The district court found that in 2010, 36% of all African American voters that cast ballots utilized early voting, as compared to 33.1% of white voters. By comparison, in the presidential elections of 2008 and 2012, over 70% of African American voters used early voting compared to just over 50% of white voters.