Early voting legislation delayed in House

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Debate on politically tinged legislation to
cut North Carolina’s early voting period by a week has been delayed
in the House.

The chief sponsor of the House measure gave no reason on the
floor why he asked that a final House vote scheduled for Monday
night be delayed until Wednesday.

The bill received tentative approval last week by a close margin
after an hour of debate. The close vote means a veto by Democratic
Gov. Beverly Perdue could potentially block the measure.

Early voting is popular. More than 2.4 million voters cast
ballots at one-stop sites in the 2008 general election.

Bill supporters say it would eliminate a relatively slow part of
the early-voting period. Democrats counter the change would pare
back turnout by black voters.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)