---
type: "Bill"
title: "Electoral Freedom Act of 2017."
description: "Electoral Freedom Act of 2017."
jurisdiction: "us/states/nc"
legislature: "North Carolina General Assembly"
session: "2017"
identifier: "SB 656"
citation: "North Carolina SB 656 (2017)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["BOARDS", "COURTS", "DEFINITIONS", "ELECTIONS", "ELECTIONS", "STATE BOARD OF", "JUDGES", "POLITICAL PARTIES", "PRESENTED", "PUBLIC", "RATIFIED", "VETOED", "CHAPTERED", "VETO OVERRIDDEN", "PRIMARIES", "BALLOT ISSUES"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: []
version_count: 7
action_count: 61
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2017-04-04"
last_action: "2017-10-17"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4f6b4c4f-38ad-41d7-93df-d9e4eacc3d65"
source_url: "http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2017&BillID=S656&votesToView=all"
source_hash: "53d80f3517f2ad361e05de29158d8cfd4ab86461a4a6cb75e33f31a1a177bfdf"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-nc"]
---

# North Carolina SB 656 (2017) — Electoral Freedom Act of 2017.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Filed** (filed) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2017/Bills/Senate/PDF/S656v0.pdf)
2. **Edition 1** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2017/Bills/Senate/PDF/S656v1.pdf)
3. **Edition 2** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2017/Bills/Senate/PDF/S656v2.pdf)
4. **Edition 3** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2017/Bills/Senate/PDF/S656v3.pdf)
5. **Edition 4** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2017/Bills/Senate/PDF/S656v4.pdf)
6. **Ratified** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2017/Bills/Senate/PDF/S656v5.pdf)
7. **SL 2017-214** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2017/Bills/Senate/PDF/S656v6.pdf)

## Votes

- Motion 11 Veto Override — **26–15** (pass) · upper
- Veto Override — **72–40** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Hise — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2017-10-17** Ch. SL 2017-214 `became-law`
- **2017-10-17** Veto Overridden `veto-override-passage`
- **2017-10-16** Placed On Cal For 10/17/2017
- **2017-10-16** Veto Received From Senate
- **2017-10-16** Veto Overridden `veto-override-passage`
- **2017-10-16** Placed on Today's Calendar
- **2017-10-16** Withdrawn From Com
- **2017-10-12** Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate `referral-committee`
- **2017-10-09** Vetoed 10/09/2017 `executive-veto`
- **2017-10-05** Pres. To Gov. 10/5/2017 `executive-receipt`
- **2017-10-05** Ratified
- **2017-10-05** Ordered Enrolled
- **2017-10-05** Conf Report Adopted
- **2017-10-05** Conf Report #2 Adopted
- **2017-10-05** Placed on Today's Calendar
- **2017-10-05** Conf Com Reported
- **2017-10-05** Added to Calendar
- **2017-10-05** Conf Com Reported
- **2017-10-05** Conf Rpt Withdrawn
- **2017-10-05** Conf Rept Withdrawn
- **2017-10-04** Placed On Cal For 10/05/2017
- **2017-10-04** Cal Pursuant Rule 44(d)
- **2017-10-04** Reptd Fav For Adoption `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-10-04** Re-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House `referral-committee`
- **2017-10-04** Conf Com Reported
- **2017-10-04** Placed On Cal For 10/05/2017
- **2017-10-04** Conf Com Reported
- **2017-06-29** Conf Com Appointed
- **2017-06-29** Conf Com Appointed
- **2017-06-29** Failed Concur In H Com Sub
- **2017-06-29** Placed on Today's Calendar
- **2017-06-29** Special Message Received For Concurrence in H Com Sub
- **2017-06-28** Special Message Sent To Senate
- **2017-06-28** Passed 3rd Reading `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-06-28** Passed 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2017-06-28** Added to Calendar
- **2017-06-28** Cal Pursuant Rule 36(b)
- **2017-06-28** Reptd Fav Com Sub 2 `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-06-26** Re-ref Com On Elections and Ethics Law `referral-committee`
- **2017-06-26** Withdrawn From Cal
- **2017-06-22** Placed On Cal For 06/26/2017
- **2017-06-21** Cal Pursuant Rule 36(b)
- **2017-06-21** Reptd Fav Com Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-05-08** Re-ref Com On Elections and Ethics Law `referral-committee`
- **2017-05-08** Withdrawn From Com
- **2017-04-27** Ref To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House `referral-committee`
- **2017-04-27** Passed 1st Reading `reading-1`
- **2017-04-27** Regular Message Received From Senate
- **2017-04-27** Regular Message Sent To House
- **2017-04-26** Passed 3rd Reading `passage, reading-3`
- **2017-04-26** Passed 2nd Reading `reading-2`
- **2017-04-26** Placed on Today's Supplemental Calendar
- **2017-04-26** Reptd Fav `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-04-25** Re-ref Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate `referral-committee`
- **2017-04-25** Com Substitute Adopted
- **2017-04-25** Reptd Fav Com Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2017-04-21** Re-ref to Select Committee on Elections. If fav, re-ref to Rules and Operations of the Senate `referral-committee`
- **2017-04-21** Withdrawn From Com
- **2017-04-05** Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate `referral-committee`
- **2017-04-05** Passed 1st Reading `reading-1`
- **2017-04-04** Filed `introduction`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4f6b4c4f-38ad-41d7-93df-d9e4eacc3d65`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official North Carolina legislature records).