North Carolina Republicans have introduced a sweeping elections bill that, among other steps, would bar election officials from encouraging or promoting voter turnout.

It’s the latest and starkest example of a trend among Republicans of opposing even nonpartisan outreach efforts that could boost voting rates.

The proposed ban “raises real questions about what democracy means in North Carolina, who really holds the power, who government is answering to,” Andrew Garber, a counsel in the Brennan Center’s Voting Rights and Elections Program, told Democracy Docket.

Rep. Allison Dahle, the top Democrat on North Carolina’s House Elections committee, was blunter.

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