(RALEIGH) – The House Elections Committee approved a bill that would shorten the early voting period by one week. Lawmakers voted 16-14 for the measure, which would limit the start of early voting to the second Thursday before Election Day or a primary election.

Bill sponsor Rep. Bert Jones, an unaffiliated lawmaker from Rockingham County, said reducing the number of early voting days from 18 to 11 could potentially save county elections boards about $2,000 per voting site.  “We’re not trying to do away with early voting in any way,” he said. “The question is how many election days should we have in North Carolina.”
 
But critics said the proposal would reduce voter turnout. “You get more people to the polls with early voting. There’s no question about it,” said Rep. Mickey Michaux, D-Durham. “You want to stop a whole lot of folks from coming to the polls - which is what you seem bent on doing this session anyway - and this is the way to do it.”
 
The early voting program, which was expanded in 2001 and 2007, was instrumental in helping Democrats make huge political gains in 2008.  More than 2.6 million North Carolina voters cast their ballot before Election Day in 2008. During that time period, Democrats out-voted Republicans by nearly a 2-1 margin.