Voter Protection and Reliance Act.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 691

Short Title: Voter Protection and Reliance Act. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives Rubin, Ball, Dahle, and Baker (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
April 3, 2025
*H691-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO PROTECT TH E RIGHT OF A VOTER T O HAVE THE VOTER'S B ALLOT 2
COUNTED AND TO PROMOTE ELECTION TIMELINESS AND INTEGRITY. 3
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 4
SECTION 1. Chapter 163 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new 5
Article to read: 6
"Article 15B. 7
"Election Litigation Timeliness and Integrity of Cast Votes. 8
"§ 163-182.50. Title; purpose. 9
(a) This Article shall be known and may be cited as the "Voter Protection and Reliance 10
Act." 11
(b) The General Assembly finds that a voter relies on the election procedures that are in 12
place and established when the voter cast s the voter's ballot. Belated changes to voting 13
procedures, after a voter ha s relied on those procedures while voting , violate the voter 's 14
good-faith relian ce and right to vote. To that end, t he purpose of this Article is to ensure 15
challenges to the rules and practices governing elections are made well in advance of each 16
election by (i) prohibiting the discounting of ballots cast in compliance with the laws established 17
and understood at the time of an election and (ii) accelerating litigation filed shortly before a 18
pending election or after an election is held. 19
"§ 163-182.51. Right to vote under prevailing law and procedures. 20
(a) Every citizen of this State has the right to cast a ballot and have the ir vote counted 21
based on the laws and established election procedures in place on election day. No law or 22
interpretation of law that was not effective , or election procedure that was not established, on 23
election day shall operate to deny or abridge this right. 24
(b) No administrative body, court, or official may exclude a vote from canvass, fail to 25
certify an election, withhold a certificate of election, or fail to seat a prevailing candidate by 26
excluding votes based on a law , judicial ruling, or legal interpre tation that was not in effect on 27
election day or an election procedure that was not established by election day. 28
(c) In any civil action filed in a State court, a protest before the State Board or a county 29
board of elections, or other proceeding, the adjudicator shall deem a law effective and an election 30
procedure established when either of the following applies: 31
(1) It is a constitutional provision adopted, statute enacted, or regulation codified 32
before election day and as it was administered in any directive or 33
administrative memorandum on election day. 34
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 691-First Edition
(2) It is a directive, administrative memorandum, including a "numbered memo," 1
procedure, or established pattern or practice of the State Board or a county 2
board of elections that was in place on election day. 3
(d) In applying the provisions of this section, the adjudicator shall construe facts and draw 4
inferences in favor of finding that the election procedure was established, based on voter reliance 5
and the availability of legislative or judicial recourse before election day. If election procedures 6
were allegedly in conflict on election day, the adjudicator shall construe those procedures in favor 7
of the voter based on an understanding of the procedures as relied on by that voter. 8
(e) In the event there is a change in election procedure during the absentee or early voting 9
period or during election day, the adjudicator shall apply the established election procedure in 10
effect at the time a given ballot was cast, an application was made for a provisional ballot, or an 11
absentee ballot was submitted by the voter. 12
(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent any eligible voter from 13
challenging the unlawful denial of the voter 's right to register to vote, cast a ballot, or have th e 14
voter's ballot counted in any election. 15
"§ 163-182.52. Expedited procedures for litigation within certain time frame of an election. 16
(a) This section applies to (i) any covered action filed within 90 days before the earliest 17
date absentee ballots may be mailed for an election or (ii) a covered action filed post -election 18
that seeks to challenge the outcome of an election. For purposes of this section, "covered action" 19
means any civil action filed in a State court, as well as a protest at the State Board or a county 20
board of elections level, challenging the general applicability, meaning, interpretation, validity, 21
or understanding of any established election procedure, as described in G.S. 163-182.51(c). 22
(b) Jurisdiction. – All covered actions instituted under this section shall be filed in the 23
Superior Court of Wake County unless the action pertains to an established election procedure 24
solely of a single county board of elections. 25
(c) When Three-Judge Panel Applies. – When a single superior court judge determines 26
that a covered action falls within Rule 42, under the Rules of Civil Procedure, the judge shall 27
order a transfer under Rule 42 immediately and the Chief Justice shall appoint a three-judge panel 28
within five days of the Superior Court ordering the transfer. 29
(d) Expedited Procedures. – Upon filing a covered action under this section, the plaintiff 30
shall serve the State Board or other appropriate election authority within 24 hours and the court 31
shall hold an initial scheduling conference within five days of the filing. The court may shorten 32
normal response deadlines and move the case to the front of its docket. Any appeals shall be 33
heard on an expedited schedule." 34
SECTION 2. G.S. 163-182.9(b) reads as rewritten: 35
"(b) How Protest May Be Filed. – The following principles shall apply to the filing of 36
election protests with the county board of elections: 37
… 38
(5) No protest challenging a voter's registration shall be sustained to invalidate a 39
cast ballot or prevent a voter from voting where the alleged error in an 40
accepted registration is a technical or clerical error, such as an incomplete 41
form, on which the voter detrimentally relied, unless the protester 42
demonstrates that the voter was in fact ineligible to vote at the time of 43
registration." 44
SECTION 3. This act is effective when it becomes law. 45