(The Center Square) – Banning foreign funding for ballot measure campaigns is included in a North Carolina proposal expected to be taken up Wednesday by the Judiciary 1 Committee of the North Carolina House of Representatives.
Election Law Changes, known also as House Bill 958 and authored by Republican Rep. Hugh Blackwell of Burke County, was introduced on April 10. It’s likely to head for a full floor vote if the committee recommends.
Urgency increased alongside three storylines. A ballot measure for 2026 involves election law. It’s there in part because of the six months it took to resolve protests and litigation of a state Supreme Court race from November with instructions, and lack thereof, from the state election board pivotal to implementation of a photo identification law approved in 2018 and held up in court until 2024.
All boil down to Democrats versus Republicans in a state where the largest voting bloc is independent of both. And at least one outside group has taken interest and will try to sway the lawmakers.
A five-figure digital ad campaign encouraging its passage was launched Monday by Honest Elections Project Action.
“North Carolinians deserve elections free from foreign influence,” said Jason Snead, executive director of the project. “Unfortunately, current federal and state law does not prohibit foreign nationals from contributing to state ballot issue campaigns, leaving North Carolina vulnerable. North Carolina has already seen millions in foreign-tied cash poured into the state, which is why it is so crucial to act. We call on lawmakers to quickly pass this measure – including a strong ban on foreign funding for ballot measure campaigns – to stop foreign influence in North Carolina.”
Snead’s group says Hansjorg Wyss of Sweden is an example. Honest Elections Project Action says he gave “more than $280 million to the liberal Sixteen Thirty Fund, which has in turn poured $130 million into ballot issue campaigns across the country, including $3.5 million in North Carolina.”
The 2026 midterms ballot measure would give clarity to absentee and in-person voting.
In 2018, voters by 11 points (55.5%-44.5%) endorsed requiring a photo identification to vote. Democrats and liberal groups litigated before ultimately falling, and the law finally went into effect in 2024. Though, not as lawmakers intended, with a majority Democrats’ election board left holding responsibility.
There was gray area exposed in the protests and six months of litigation for the state Supreme Court race between Democratic Justice Allison Riggs and Republican Justice Jefferson Griffin. Riggs ultimately won by 734 votes from 5,540,090 cast with no photo ID required of military and overseas voters.
The ballot measure was close that hole.
The State Board of Elections faced three lawsuits, including from the U.S. Department of Justice, and has crafted a plan to bring resolution.
Republicans were majorities in the General Assembly when the 2018 ballot measure went before voters. Democrats and other liberal groups fought it, preventing implementation for six years.
While Democrats were able to win party-line votes on the previous state election board, including the protests of Griffin against Riggs, state law changed in the spring. Rather than the governor and his party having appointment power and majority, it now resides with the office of the state auditor. And that’s first-term Republican Dave Boliek.
Since 1896, voters have elected a Republican for governor in North Carolina only three times.
While HB958 did not make it out of the chamber before the May 8 “crossover” deadline, it remains alive because bills on appropriations, revenue and elections are not subject to the deadline.
