RALEIGH (AP) -- A House committee has approved a bill allowing North Carolinians to register to vote in the last days before an election.
Right now, state law cuts off voter registration 25 days before an election. The new measure would allow citizens to register and immediately vote at one-stop voting sites, which are open from the first Thursday after the registration deadline until the Saturday before election day.
Wake County Representative Deborah Ross sponsored the bill, and says the idea is to boost voter participation in a state that's 15th from the bottom in turnout. Ross says a lot of people only get interested in a race in the last few weeks before election day, and this would allow them to be heard.
The committee rejected an amendment that would have allowed voters who are already registered to change their party affiliation during the same period.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
