The statewide review covers rules involving absentee voting, photo identification, election observers, campaign finance and multipartisan assistance teams.
RALEIGH — North Carolinians may begin submitting comments Monday on whether 29 existing state election rules remain necessary, beginning a review process that could lead to their readoption, amendment or removal from the administrative code.
The State Board of Elections made an initial determination Sept. 17 that all 29 rules are necessary. The public comment period runs from Sept. 21 through Nov. 25.
The rules cover multiple parts of statewide election administration, including absentee voting, photo identification, election observers, campaign finance and multipartisan assistance teams, which help certain voters in facilities with absentee voting. The rules are located in Chapters 15, 16, 17, 18, 20 and 21 of Title 08 of the North Carolina Administrative Code.
The review is required under state law. Agencies must periodically examine their rules every 10 years and classify them as necessary or unnecessary. State law defines an unnecessary rule as one that is obsolete, redundant or otherwise not needed.
Comments must object to a rule, in whole or in part, or object to the board’s initial classification of the rule. The State Board said comments should identify the specific rule and address its substance and the standards used by the Rules Review Commission.
Comments may be filed through the State Board’s online portal, emailed to rulemaking.sboe@ncsbe.gov or mailed to the agency’s rulemaking coordinator at P.O. Box 27255, Raleigh, NC 27611-7255.
After the comment period closes, the elections agency will review the submissions and prepare a brief response to each comment. The State Board will then vote on final classifications and send a report to the Rules Review Commission.
The commission is scheduled to review the determinations in February 2027 and submit a final report to the Joint Legislative Administrative Procedure Oversight Committee. Rules ultimately classified as necessary must move through a readoption process, during which they may be amended. Rules found unnecessary will be removed from the administrative code.
The review does not mean the 29 rules changed Monday. It begins a public process for deciding which rules remain needed and which should proceed to readoption.
Editor’s note: This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.