RALEIGH — Gov. Roy Cooper has vetoed one bill that addressed potential voting in North Carolina by non-citizens but signed another that strengthens mail-in absentee balloting rules following evidence of fraud in a congressional race.
The measure Cooper vetoed on Wednesday would require North Carolina courts to send information about potential jurors being disqualified because they aren't U.S. citizens to election officials to remove them from voter rolls. Cooper says these changes increase the risk that legitimate citizens will be denied the right to vote due to bad information.
The signed absentee ballot bill increases punishments for absentee ballot rule violators and restores permanently early in-person voting on the last Saturday before elections. The absentee voting changes are a response to criminal charges in the 9th Congressional District campaign in 2018.
