Gov. Roy Cooper took action to help Hurricane Florence relief efforts by signing two bills into law on Oct. 3.
After a special session held on Oct. 2 to discuss hurricane relief, lawmakers presented Cooper with Senate Bill 2 and House Bill 4, both of which were signed into law by the governor.
Senate Bill 2, School Calendar and Pay, is an act that addresses concerns from school systems that were affected by Hurricane Florence. The bill provides flexibility in school calendars, facilitates compensation to school employees and provides relief to students enrolled in educator preparation programs that were affected by the storm.
House Bill 4, the Hurricane Florence Emergency Response Act, extends voter registration for counties that were heavily impacted by Hurricane Florence.
Before the special session was held, the North Carolina NAACP held a news conference asking the state elections board to extend the voter registration deadline, but legislation was already in the works.
The Hurricane Florence Emergency Response Act extends the regular voter registration from Friday, the original deadline, to Oct. 15 at 5 p.m.
However, this extension only applies to the 28 counties in North Carolina that were most affected by Hurricane Florence. For the other 72 counties in the state, the voter registration deadline will remain Friday at 5 p.m.
Mailed registration applications must be postmarked on or before the deadline.
The 28 counties affected by this extension are Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Duplin, Greene, Harnett, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, Moore, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, Pender, Pitt, Richmond, Robeson, Sampson, Scotland, Wayne and Wilson.
