RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – North Carolina State Board of Election officials met Thursday to decide the fate of early voting schedules for 33 counties after the state’s controversial voting law was struck down by a federal court.

The decisions made Thursday will impact millions of voters across North Carolina.

Decisions have already been made for several counties, including Vance and Person. In both these cases, the plan that was approved by the board means there will be charges in the early voting hours in both counties.

Wake County’s electorate comprises more than 10 percent of the state’s 6.7 million voters and includes the capital of Raleigh. The Republicans who lead Wake’s board had offered only one site for the entire county during the first week of voting.

By a 3-2 vote, the state board instead Thursday agreed to a local Democratic plan opening up eight additional sites and providing a second Sunday of voting.
The board also voted Thursday to extend evening voting hours in coastal New Hanover County and add more sites in rural Edgecombe County.

“I’m not shocked. I’m obviously excited for Wake County voters. I think we had a reasonable plan and it just made sense,” said Mark Ezzell, member of the Wake Board of Elections.

In Mecklenburg County, there will now be 10 locations during the first week of early voting. Democrats had complained that only six locations would have been open during the first week and would have meant fewer voting hours overall compared with 2012.

Democrats on the state board still voted against the plan. They were worried the additional number wouldn’t be enough to handle expected turnout. There will be 22 locations during the rest of early voting.

The reason this is happening in the first place is because of a recent federal ruling that found a 2013 voting law reduced early voting days and added restrictions that disproportionately affected minorities.

Judges decided this summer that lawmakers had made the changes in order to discriminate against black voters.

Along with requiring a voter ID, those laws made changes to voting schedules, greatly cutting back the amount of hours given to early voting.  The state originally allowed seventeen days of early voting, but the new law had reduced that number to ten.

Advocacy group Democracy North Carolina showed up at the State Board of Elections before the meeting to present to the board a petition from 10,000 voters calling on members to “adopt strong Early Voting plans with Sunday and evening hours.”

“Winning an election does not empower anyone in any party to engage in purposeful racial discrimination,” the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said in its ruling.  “When a legislature dominated by one party has dismantled barriers to African-American access to the franchise, even if done to gain votes, ‘politics as usual’ does not allow a legislature dominated by the other party to re-erect those barriers.”

The court ordered the state to again provide seventeen days for early voting.

In some cases, some counties were able to make the changes handed down by that ruling.

Other counties did not so state election officials are making those decisions Thursday.

The state board had the chance to hear the proposed changes county election officials have offered.

In most cases, there were two plans: one by the majority and minority.

The majority is usually the county’s GOP board members and the minority usually the Democrats.

The issue that came up time and time again between these two plans was Sunday voting.

For voting rights advocates at the meeting today, they said Sunday voting is absolutely necessary and is a crucial part of early voting.

“This is one of the days typically and traditionally the African-American churches have joined together to bring parishioners from their congregations to the polls. It’s been very effective in advancing the participation of racial minorities so there’s a big push on the part of those you want to open up the ballot,” said Irv Joyner, a member of the NAACP legal team who challenged the state’s voter ID law. “…there’s an effort to restrict that on the part of those you don’t want people to vote.”

Most of the board members said they don’t oppose Sunday voting, but said it should only be kept if it was offered in the last election.

Dallas Woodhouse, executive director of the North Carolina GOP, said he doesn’t believe voting should be allowed on Sunday.

“There are people on our side – not everybody – who think the elections staff ought to have the day off; that Sundays be a day of rest, a day of church for those who go,” he said. “When you have 17 days of early voting – 17 more than New York, as well Virginia has – we don’t need to vote on Sunday.”

For one voter at today’s meeting she said she just wants to see early voting offer the 17 days of voting that the state has seen in the past.

“It directly impacts us in Orange County, because the more hours we have for early voting, the shorter the line on Election Day,” said Vicky Boyer from Carrboro. “It’s a very good thing. The more hours we have for early voting, the more options for people to get out and vote.”

Plans for Orange County haven’t been decided yet by state election officials.

North Carolina is considered a battleground state, particularly in the race for president.

The State Board of Elections has a 3-2 GOP majority.

Joyner told CBS North Carolina that the NAACP is watching very closely and that the case could wind up back in court depending on what happens during Thursday’s session.

WBTV contributed to this report.