NC Republicans make a welcome commitment to increase access to voting | Opinion
Republicans in the state legislature have introduced their fair share of election-related bills that are cause for concern. But there’s one proposal that none of us should have any trouble getting on board with.
A group of House Republicans proposed a bill last month that would make Election Day a holiday in North Carolina. House Bill 31 now has more than 50 co-sponsors from both parties — including two dozen additional Republicans — a welcome display of bipartisanship at a time when it feels like no one can agree on much of anything.
The effect of the bill would be a simple one. It would make Election Day a paid holiday for state employees — meaning they would get time off to vote without sacrificing their pay, hours or vacation time. That would make it a holiday for tens of thousands of people employed by the state.
A majority of states either have Election Day as a public holiday or require employers to provide paid time off for voting. North Carolina is one of 19 states that does not do either.
The hope is that making Election Day a holiday might increase voter turnout, primarily by removing work and school demands that might preclude people from making it to the polls. There’s not a lot of evidence to suggest that making Election Day a holiday can meaningfully increase voter turnout on its own, but it is one of many policies that, when combined, can result in higher voter participation.
Still, giving state employees built-in time to cast their ballot is a worthy goal. Treating Election Day as a holiday sends the message that democracy is valuable and voting is important. Encouraging people to vote is one thing, but giving them the time to do it is quite another. It could even allow more people to volunteer as poll workers and open up more government buildings to serve as polling places, which could make voting more efficient for everyone.
The fact that House Bill 31 is a Republican sponsored bill, with significant bipartisan support, is a welcome sign of progress. Just two years ago, a similar bill filed in the House did not have a single Republican sponsor. Similar legislation has been filed in the Senate various times in past years but did not garner Republican support. This new bill puts North Carolina Republicans ahead of those in Washington, where proposals to make Election Day a federal holiday have consistently languished without GOP support.
So far, House Bill 31 has been referred to the House Committee on Election Law. That means that it has already progressed further than any of its predecessors — a good sign that it actually has a chance of passing in the House.
But this bill exists while some Republicans are simultaneously trying to make voting less accessible. Another bill, House Bill 66, would substantially slash the early voting period from three weeks to just six days, and completely eliminate Sunday voting. Since early voting is overwhelmingly the most popular form of voting in North Carolina, those reductions could significantly suppress turnout. There’s also a proposal that would effectively ban third-party voter registration drives, which organizations of all political stripes use to help people register to vote during election season. Both of these bills have support from some Republicans who also support the effort to make Election Day a holiday. That’s disappointing.
Of course, making Election Day a holiday is not the only reform needed to make voting fairer and more accessible, and it’s unlikely to substantially increase voter turnout on its own. Lawmakers should consider measures including automatic voter registration and nonpartisan redistricting commissions, and they should refrain from passing measures that achieve the opposite effect. But we should still embrace any bill that encourages voter participation — no matter how small.
This story was originally published March 9, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "NC Republicans make a welcome commitment to increase access to voting | Opinion."
