Democratic Gov. Josh Stein vetoed a controversial elections bill on Monday that would have cut the early voting period for primary elections, among a suite of other Republican-backed changes.
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At a ceremony at the Executive Mansion, Stein was joined by Democratic lawmakers, voting rights activists and students as he vetoed the bill.
“Legislators are trying to make it harder for you to vote and for your vote to count because they know they have not delivered for you,” Stein said.
The bill, House Bill 958, would also have required the Republican state auditor to conduct post-election audits and would have created new avenues to challenge ballots after an election.
State lawmakers do not plan to return to the legislature until after the midterms, so they will likely not have a chance to attempt to override Stein’s veto before the election.
HB 958 passed entirely along party lines, meaning House Republicans would not have the requisite three-fifths supermajority to overturn Stein’s veto if the numbers held. Even if it did become law, most of the bill’s provisions would not take effect until next year.
Still, Rep. Hugh Blackwell, a Burke County Republican who chairs the House election law committee, promised that the House would override the veto.
“House Bill 958 continues practical election reforms so we all can have greater confidence that every lawful vote in North Carolina is counted fairly and accurately,” Blackwell said in an emailed statement. “Gov. Stein’s veto of this legislation puts politics ahead of common sense and the peace of mind voters should have when they cast their ballots.”
State Auditor Dave Boliek also defended the legislation in a statement released shortly after Stein’s veto.
“Post-election audits are a commonsense, objective way to boost public confidence in our elections,” he said. “These examinations of election systems and controls are an additional layer of accountability that should be welcomed.”
Stein was joined at his event on Monday by Sen. Sydney Batch and Rep. Robert Reives, the Democratic leaders of the state Senate and House, respectively.
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They cast HB 958 as the latest in a long line of attempts by Republican lawmakers to meddle with North Carolina elections. In 2024, the legislature stripped Stein of his appointments to state and local elections boards, transferring that power to Boliek and making him the only auditor in the county with such authority. And last year, Republican leaders redrew the state’s congressional map to oust a Democrat at President Donald Trump’s request.
“With every single change, Republicans show the exact same thing; they only care about maintaining their political power by any means necessary,” Batch said.
Monday’s veto comes as the State Board of Elections prepares to set early voting plans on Thursday in 20 counties that failed to reach an agreement on a schedule.
The process has been shrouded in controversy after a deluge of texts leaked between Dallas Woodhouse, the state auditor’s former elections liaison, and local election officials. In those texts, Woodhouse (who has since resigned) encouraged officials to drop Sunday voting and an on-campus polling site.
Shia Rozier, a fourth-year student at N.C. A&T State University, spoke at Stein’s event Monday and urged the state to include a polling site on her campus after her local board split over the issue.
“I implore you to believe, just as I believe, that access to the polls is not a political issue,” she said. “Whether you vote red, blue, purple, or green — we are not asking for a specific vote. We’re just asking for the opportunity to be able to do so. And democracy is something that we should be excited for — not something that we are continuously fighting for access to.”
Last week, Stein signed a separate elections bill into law that softens the deadlines for some ballot counting.
That bill, House Bill 834, gained some bipartisan support in the legislature, but also drew criticism for a provision that allows decisions of the State Board of Elections to be appealed in any county court throughout the state. Previously, all appeals were required to begin in Wake County.
Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Guilford County Democrat, said the provision would encourage “judge shopping” with voter challenges.
“I think that’s going to prove to be a real problem for fair judicial treatment of election issues,” she said.
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Stein did not issue a statement on his decision to sign HB 834.
This story was originally published August 17, 2026 at 4:37 PM.