High Country Times

Without a hard-and-fast deadline governing absentee ballots, the balance of free, fair and secure elections is in jeopardy, according to a North Carolina lawmaker.

“What we saw happen in 2020, with the state board of elections and our attorney general, along with Democratic lawyer Mark Elias, secretly negotiating a change to our election laws by illegally moving the ballot deadline, demonstrates to us that when we do not conform with our Constitution's designation of Election Day, problems can arise,” Sen. Warren Daniel (R-Morganton) told High Country Times.

But if Senate Bill 326 (SB 326) is enacted into law, it would set close-of-business on Election Day as the deadline for accepting absentee ballots, according to media reports. The Senate approved the proposal this week and it’s now pending before the House.

“Yesterday's vote makes clear that all the Democrats' theatrics about voting rights is just that – theater,” Daniel said. “The responsibility of casting one's vote is on the individual, not the government. Should SB 326 become law, everyone will be on notice as to the changes, and everyone has the personal responsibility to conform to the law. We believe voters will change their voting habits with ease and take responsibility as they see fit.”

Two-thirds (66%) of voters polled by the Honest Elections Project support increasing protections on absentee voting, including a voter-ID requirement to vote absentee.

“This bill would enjoin us with some 32 other states that have similar elections laws regarding ballot deadlines, including Joe Biden's home state of Delaware,” Daniel said.

As one of the bill's sponsors, Daniel added that an extended period of accepting absentee ballots, like there was in 2020, leads to confusion and distrust among voters.

“Elections need deadlines for when ballots are received,” Daniel said. “I do not think any reasonable mind would disagree with that fact. Everyone knows what Election Day is and what it means; it is the most obvious and logical deadline to have for ballots.”

The bipartisan Commission on Federal Election Reform discovered that absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud and that the widespread use of those types of ballots “increases the risks of fraud and of contested elections,” according to the National Review. 

However, critics of SB 326 view the legislation as amounting to 'disenfranchisement' or 'voter-suppression.'

“Voters already have the responsibility now to assure their ballots are received by the deadline under current law,” Daniel said. “We disagree that changing the deadline to Election Day changes this theory at all or the voter's responsibility. We certainly believe that, by any objective and reasonable measure, SB 326 does not disenfranchise anyone.”