Bill
SB 392
SB 392 strengthens penalties and civil remedies to prevent voter and election-worker intimidation, with enforcement, restitution funds, and disqualification options for officials w
Status & key dates
- Introduced: March 24–25, 2025 (filed and read first time; referred to Rules/Operations of the Senate).
- Current status provided by user: Passed 1st Reading.
- Sponsors (primary): Senators Chaudhuri, Murdock, and Smith.
Purpose and intent
- Establish stronger criminal, civil, and administrative protections against efforts to interfere with voting and the lawful administration of elections.
- Protect voters, poll workers, and election officials from threats, coercion, spurious challenges, and other forms of intimidation; provide remedies, restitution, and education funding; and prevent public officials from refusing to certify valid election results.
Major provisions (organized by bill Parts)
Part I — Voter protections (new G.S. 163‑275.1–.3)
- Definitions: “coerce,” “intimidate,” and “threaten” are defined for statute application.
- New criminal offenses:
- Class H felony for knowingly threatening a person for actions including voting, registering, urging others to vote, or performing duties as an election official; knowingly challenging a person's right to vote on spurious grounds; mass or groundless voter challenges intended to prevent or delay voting; and fraudulently advising an eligible voter they are ineligible.
- Employers conditioning pay or employment on voting conduct (or inserting threatening political material in pay envelopes) may be guilty of a Class H felony.
- Intimidation or coercion (lesser acts) made a Class A1 misdemeanor.
- Civil remedies & restitution:
- Private right of action for persons aggrieved by violations (preventive relief such as injunctions; courts may award reasonable attorney fees).
- Courts may impose restitution fines; proceeds deposited in a newly created Voter Intimidation Restitution Fund to be appropriated to the State Board of Elections for voter-education campaigns and administrative costs.
Part II — Protections for election administrators and poll workers (amendments to Article 22)
- Civil liability: Persons who intimidate, threaten, or coerce election workers (officials, poll workers, volunteers) with intent to impede duties are civilly liable for resulting injury or loss.
- Criminal penalties: Violators may face fines up to $100,000, imprisonment up to five years, or both.
- Good-faith immunity: Election workers acting in good faith to prevent interference or preserve ballot access are protected from liability.
- State Board of Elections and district attorneys expressly authorized to investigate/prosecute intimidation of election workers and to seek enhanced penalties.
Part III — Disqualification of public officials who refuse to certify elections (Article 15B)
- Creates the “Safeguard Fair Elections Act,” includes legislative findings about acts after the 2020 election that pressured officials to lie about results.
- Establishes authority and measures (civil/administrative or disqualification mechanisms) to address public officials who refuse to certify valid election results. (Full statutory text truncated in source; specifics of procedures/penalties for disqualification are contained in the bill text but were not fully included in the provided excerpts.)
Who is affected
- Individual voters (protection from intimidation and fraudulent misrepresentation).
- Election officials, poll workers, and volunteers (added civil protections and criminal remedies).
- Employers and persons who attempt mass or spurious voter challenges.
- State Board of Elections, district attorneys, and courts (enforcement, prosecution, administration of restitution fund and education programs).
Enforcement, penalties, and remedies
- Criminal sanctions ranging from misdemeanors to Class H felonies and up to five years’ imprisonment and/or fines (up to $100,000 in certain election-worker intimidation cases).
- Civil damages and injunctive relief; attorney fees at court’s discretion.
- Restitution fund to finance voter-education targeted at the offense involved.
Potential impacts
- Strengthens legal tools for prosecutors and civil claimants to deter and respond to voter- and election-worker intimidation.
- Creates funding mechanism for voter education tied to convictions.
- May increase investigative/prosecutorial and court workload where intimidation incidents occur; bill does not include an explicit fiscal analysis in the provided excerpts.
Notes and caveats
- The provided bill excerpts include the principal elements above but some sections (notably the full procedural detail for Part III disqualification mechanisms) were truncated in the source materials. For full operative language and implementation details, consult the complete enrolled bill text or follow-up committee reports.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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