On May 8, the North Carolina House Elections Committee voted to alter HB 794, the ballot access reform bill, into a study bill. The Committee then passed the bill without opposition. Assuming it is signed into law, the legislature will study ballot access for minor parties and independent candidates before February 2014. This means public hearings will be held, and the joint committee will issue a report. The second half of the current session will then use the study results to decide whether to pass the original bill.

The bill lowers the number of signatures for statewide independent candidates and newly-qualifying parties from approximately 90,000 signatures to approximately 11,000. Thanks to Jordon Greene for this information.