On June 17, the North Carolina Senate went home for the year. The ballot access improvement bill, HB 32, which had passed the House earlier this month, never received a vote in the Senate. However, there will be a special session in July 2011, and election law bills are apparently on the agenda. And even if the bill doesn’t pass this year, North Carolina has two-year legislative sessions and the bill will be alive in 2012. Of course, the bill needs to pass in 2011 if it is to be in effect in time for the 2012 election, unless it passes very early in 2012.

The North Carolina House is still in session on Saturday, June 18. It will probably adjourn for the year later on that day.