NC lawmakers are proposing a host of election changes. What you need to know

On Wednesday night, lawmakers released a bill that stands to make a number of changes to how elections are conducted. Here's what you should know

North Carolina lawmakers unveiled an omnibus bill Wednesday night that would change some of the ways elections are administered and how legal disputes may be resolved.

The new version of House Bill 958 will have its first committee hearing on Thursday, where lawmakers could take steps that make voting both more and less burdensome.

Here are some of the bill highlights that you should know:

Job overhauls?

The State Board of Elections had 65 employees as of May 5, according to data Anderson Alerts obtained through a public records request.

Of the 65 staff members, then-Democratic executive director Karen Brinson Bell was the only political appointee.

Under the newly released HB 958, Sam Hayes, the new Republican executive director of the State Board of Elections, would have the ability to exempt up to 25 positions from the North Carolina Human Resources Act. This amounts to a staff turnover as high as 38%.

While the measure would let Hayes replace up to two-fifths of civil servants with more like-minded individuals, Hayes has only asked lawmakers for $1.2 million to add seven exempt positions (not subtract staff).