(The Center Square) – Separate pornography and election laws in North Carolina took effect at midnight on Monday.
In all, 16 new laws went onto the books from the most recent year of the two-year legislative cycle. Lawmakers have a short session in 2024, with a minimal amount of budget adjustments expected and most attention focused on the presidential year election cycle.
Super Tuesday in the primary season is nine weeks away on March 5, when 14 congressional seats, the governor’s mansion and all 170 seats in the General Assembly are on the ballot. In addition to the governor’s race, nine other key state seats – the Council of State – will be decided.
Various Statutory Changes, as House Bill 8 was formally known, passed 47-0 in the Senate and 102-8 in the House of Representatives on Sept. 21, getting the signature of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper on Sept. 29. It included age verification for users of pornographic websites in the state, requiring via a commercially available database that users be at least 18 years old.
Under the new statute, parents can sue companies if their underage children gain access.
House Bill 8 also included changes related to schools and education; and accreditation and university research.
Lawmakers were partisan on Elections Law Changes, the title for Senate Bill 747. Cooper vetoed it, and the override votes were 30-19 in the Senate and 72-44 in the House. For those overrides in both chambers on Oct. 10, there were no Democrats for it and no Republicans against.
The law placed North Carolina with 30 other states requiring all absentee ballots to be in election board offices by Election Day. Additionally, it outlaws private money to administer elections.
The legislation also strengthens the rights of poll observers; starts a pilot program in some counties to use signature verification software for absentee ballots; improves voter registration roll maintenance techniques; and closes a same-day registration loophole.
Other significant changes to the state’s laws going into effect Monday included electric vehicle registration costs increasing 28.3%; time required to hold a learner’s permit before getting a provisional driver’s license changed; and changes to the retirement system for state teachers and employees.
