Jeanette Doran Proposes North Carolina Voting Reforms

Jeanette Doran, president and general counsel of the North Carolina Institute for Constitutional Law, is advocating for legislative reforms to change how constitutional amendments are presented to voters in North Carolina. Under current state law, voters see only a short referendum question on their ballots, while detailed plain-language explanations created by the Legislative Services Officer are only available upon request or at county offices.

Doran argues that the current system compresses complex constitutional issues into "soundbites" and places an unfair research burden on citizens. To address this, she proposes requiring that official plain-language explanations be conspicuously posted at all voting locations during both early voting and Election Day.

Additionally, Doran suggests that the full text of any proposed amendments be made accessible at polling places through printed handouts or QR codes. These proposals target the North Carolina General Assembly, which determines the referendum questions used in state elections.