The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.North Carolina classifies voting places as public buildings for disorderly conduct laws and penalizes theft of campaign signs
Last action · April 14, 2025: Ref to the Com on Election Law, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House (House action)Sponsors: Tricia Cotham and 7 others
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What This Bill Would Do
North Carolina explicitly includes active voting places and their surrounding grounds under the state's disorderly conduct law for public buildings, making disruptive behavior or defacing property at polling sites a starting October 1, 2025. Additionally, the bill establishes that stealing, defacing, vandalizing, or unlawfully removing lawfully placed political advertising in designated campaign areas is a .
Voters, poll workers, and political campaign workers face new misdemeanor criminal penalties for disorderly conduct or disturbing campaign literature at voting locations.
- North Carolina law regulates conduct in public buildings and designates specific areas near voting places for campaign-related activities. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Voters and Poll Workers
Voters and election workers are subject to explicit criminal misdemeanor rules regarding disorderly conduct at polling places during voting hours.
Campaign Workers and Political Organizations
Individuals placing political advertising in areas adjacent to voting place buffer zones face new specific misdemeanor penalties if signs are stolen or vandalized.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What constitutes a public building under the updated disorderly conduct law?
What is the penalty for damaging political signs in designated campaign areas?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
3 actions- Apr 14, 2025HouseRef to the Com on Election Law, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Apr 14, 2025HousePassed 1st Reading
- Apr 10, 2025HouseIntroducedFiled
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Expansion of Polling Place Protections
The bill bridges general public building safety statutes directly with active election polling environments by explicitly naming temporary voting sites.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.ncleg.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance60How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy45Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz30Current news / social attention level
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