Earlier absentee ballot deadlines mean discarded votes, including 1,000 in North Carolina

Verla Insko, a retired North Carolina lawmaker who worked on election legislation, mailed in her absentee ballot for the state's March 5 primary but it didn't count.

The Chapel Hill resident's ballot was among 1,128 discarded statewide for arriving after a new deadline of 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, according to a review of election records by the advocacy group Common Cause. The previous deadline required a postmark by Election Day and arriving within three days after the election.

"It makes me angry," Insko, 86, told USA TODAY. "If they shorten the hours for absentee balloting, they need to make sure everyone knows about it."

North Carolina's Republican-led legislature overrode Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto to shorten the windows for absentee ballots and early voting, along with other new restrictions, in 2023.

The Tar Heel state is one of 28 states that adopted 67 election laws since 2020 that make it harder to vote, according to a roundup by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.

States adopted the changes after former President Donald Trump complained without evidence of widespread fraud in the last election. But Trump's Justice Department and state election officials, including fellow Republicans, investigated and found no widespread fraud in President Joe Biden's victory.

With the change, North Carolina became one of 33 states to require mail-in ballots to be received by Election Day or in Vermont’s case, the day before, according to Vote.org. The other 17 states and District of Columbia require ballots to be postmarked by Election Day, but they can be received later ? ranging from a day later in Texas and up to 14 days later in Illinois.

The change in North Carolina raised concerns that thousands of ballots being discarded in the swing state.

If the new mail-ballot deadline had been in place for the last election, about 11,600 ballots that arrived within three days of Election Day would have been discarded, according to a lawsuit challenging the measure.

Erasing thousands of votes could potentially change election results. Trump won North Carolina by about 75,000 votes out of 5.4 million cast in 2020.

“Ballots are going to be thrown out that are legitimate that were cast before Election Day,” said state Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford, who opposed the bill. “It could impact an election. We have a lot of close elections in North Carolina."

States restrict absentee ballots

Since 2021, states have been nibbling away at access to absentee voting. Ohio last year shortened the deadline to return absentee ballots from 10 days after the election to four. A Kansas bill in 2021, which died in committee, proposed to move up the deadline for absentee ballots to Election Day. Virginia's legislature had two proposals to shorten the window for absentee voting

Some states have debated new rules that will make it more difficult to vote by absentee ballot in other ways. Nebraska now requires a state ID number or photocopy of one's ID as part of a request for an absentee ballot. The Arizona House approved a bill this year to restrict the current no-excuses absentee voting to just residents living outside the state, the elderly or disabled, or members of the military serving overseas.

On the other hand, some states have recently expanded access to voting. Nevada's Democratic-led state government adopted new rules in 2021 that include sending mail ballots to all voters, putting drop boxes in every county, counting absentee ballots received after Election Day if they were postmarked in time.

'A significant change:' election expert on NC law

North Carolina's package of voting rule changes also included requiring more identification to register and restricting who can gather or assist voters casting ballots.

Voting rights experts have flagged the new absentee ballot deadline as especially likely to cause disenfranchisement because of something that is beyond a voter's control: how long the mail takes.

“I think it’s a significant change,” Andrew Garber, counsel to the Brennan Center’s voting rights and elections program, said of the new absentee ballot deadline. “It means that some people’s ballots might not be counted because of factors outside of their control such as delays from the postal service.”

The previous deadline for mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day ? was three days afterward ? was adopted unanimously in 2009. Military and overseas ballots postmarked on time can still be counted if they arrive within three days later under the new law.

Advocates said the shorter deadline would help determine winners sooner. But the law also extended the time to challenge a mailed-in ballot from three days to 5 p.m. on the fifth business day after the election.

State GOP Sen. Warren Daniel, one of the bill's main sponsors, said voters have ample time to cast ballots with one of the longest periods of early voting in the country. The 17 days of early voting run from the third Thursday before an election until the last Saturday before an election at 3 p.m.

"Absentee-by-mail ballots are sent out 60 days before the election and if a voter is concerned that their ballot won’t arrive by the end of Election Day, they can vote early in-person or on Election Day," said Daniel, a co-chair of the appropriations committee on justice and public safety. "Setting an Election Day deadline to receive absentee ballots is common sense, easy for voters to understand, and provides clear guidance to election workers."

Governor vetoed 'blatant scheme' to thwart young, minority voters

Cooper, the governor, said in his veto statement the legislation was “a blatant scheme” to make it harder for young and minority voters to cast ballots because they tend to support Democrats.

“This legislation has nothing to do with election security and everything to do with Republicans keeping and gaining power,” Cooper said. “It requires valid votes to be tossed out unnecessarily, schemes to restrict early voting and absentee ballots, encourages voter intimidation and attempts to give Republican legislators the authority to decide contested election results."

Democrats favor absentee voting over Republicans, independents

The vast majority of North Carolina voters cast ballots before Election Day in 2020, according to the state Board of Elections. More than 3.6 million used early voting in-person and 1 million absentee by mail, compared to nearly 900,000 voting in person on Election Day.

Democrats favored early and absentee voting in 2020 more than Republicans or unaffiliated voters. More than 1.7 million cast early or absentee ballots, compared to nearly 1.5 million Republicans and more than 1.4 million unaffiliated voters.

Chris Shenton, a lawyer for Southern Coalition for Social Justice, said there was no evidence in election data, voter behavior or irregularities to justify the changes.

“There is no benefit to these laws,” Shenton said. “Instead, we are just going to toss out thousands of ballots because people have gotten in their heads the idea that the election was stolen by late-breaking ballots in 2020.”

Voters in the 2024 primary shied away casting ballots early or absentee. About 670,000 voters cast early ballots in person and nearly 28,000 voted by mail, compared to more than 1 million voting in person on Election Day.

Daniel, the state lawmaker who sponsored the change, voiced confidence the election would be successful with the changes.

"North Carolina had a successful primary this year under the new electoral policies, and we expect the same for the upcoming general election," Daniel said.

Insko leery of voting by mail with new absentee ballot deadline

Insko, who served in the state House from 1997 to 2022, helped lead a committee on ballot security 20 years ago. She said absentee voting made sense for herself because she didn't want to stand in a long line at a polling place.

But rather than have her ballot go missing or late again in the mail, Insko said she's looking for a way to drop off her ballot in person for the general election.

“I would like to find some way to actually deposit it someplace and not depend on the mail service," she said. “Every vote can count."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Deadline shortened for mail-in ballots in NC harms Democrats