GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2021
SENATE BILL 326
RATIFIED BILL
AN ACT to AMEND the date by which mail‑in absentee ballots must be received by the county board of elections in order to be counted, to require publishing of the date absentee ballots are available and the deadline for requesting an absentee ballot, and to provide for the reporting of ballots by the county boards of electionS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a) G.S. 163‑231(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b) Transmitting Executed Absentee Ballots to County Board of Elections. – The sealed container‑return envelope in which executed absentee ballots have been placed shall be transmitted to the county board of elections who issued those ballots as follows:
(1) All ballots issued under
the provisions of this Article and Article 21A of this Chapter shall be
transmitted by mail or by commercial courier service, at the voter's expense,
or delivered in person, or by the voter's near relative or verifiable legal
guardian and received by the county board not later than 5:00 p.m. 7:30
P.M. on the day of the statewide primary or
general election or county bond election. Ballots issued under the provisions
of Article 21A of this Chapter may also be electronically transmitted.
(2) If ballots are received
later than the hour stated in subdivision (1) of this subsection, those ballots
shall not be accepted unless one of the following applies:federal law
so requires or the ballots are received in accordance with Article 21A of this Chapter
or the State Board extended the closing time of the polls for every poll in the
county in accordance with G.S. 163‑166.01. If the State Board so
extended the closing time of the polls, the ballots shall be received by the closing
time as extended by the State Board in order to be counted.
a. Federal law so requires.
b. The ballots issued under this Article are
postmarked and that postmark is dated on or before the day of the statewide
primary or general election or county bond election and are received by the
county board of elections not later than three days after the election by 5:00
p.m.
c. The ballots issued under Article 21A of this
Chapter are received by the county board of elections not later than the end of
business on the business day before the canvass conducted by the county board
of elections held pursuant to G.S. 163‑182.5."
SECTION 1.(b) G.S. 163‑232.1(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a) The county board of
elections shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, a list in at least
triplicate, of all absentee ballots issued under Article 20 of this Chapter this
Article returned to the county board of elections to be counted, which have
been approved by the county board of elections, have not been included on the
certified list prepared pursuant to G.S. 163‑232, and which have
been postmarked by the day of the statewide primary or general election or
county bond election and have been received by the county board of
elections not later than three days after the election by 5:00
p.m. 7:30 P.M., or the time provided in G.S. 163‑231(b), on the day of the statewide primary or general election or
county bond election. The list shall be
supplemented with new information each business day following the day of the
election until the deadline for receipt of such absentee ballots. At the end of
the list, the chairman chair shall execute the following
certificate under oath:
"State of North Carolina
County of ____
I, ____, chairman chair of
the ____ County Board of Elections, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a
list of all executed absentee ballots to be voted in the election to be
conducted on the ____ day of ____ , which have been approved by the county
board of elections and which have been postmarked by the day of the
statewide primary or general election or county bond election and have
been received by the county board of elections not later than three days
after the election by 5:00 p.m. 7:30 P.M., or the time
provided in G.S. 163‑231(b), on the day of
the statewide primary or general election or county bond election. I certify that the chairman, chair, member,
officer, or employee of the board of elections has not delivered ballots for
absentee voting to any person other than the voter, by mail or by commercial
courier service or in person, except as provided by law, and have not mailed or
delivered ballots when the request for the ballot was received after the
deadline provided by law.
This the ____ day of ____, ____
_____________
(Signature of chairman chair
of
county board of elections)
Sworn to and subscribed before me this ____ day of ____, ____.
Witness my hand and official seal.
__________
(Signature of officer
administering oath)
________
(Title of officer)""
SECTION 1.(c) G.S. 163‑234 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163‑234. Counting absentee ballots by county board of elections.
All absentee ballots returned to the county board of elections in the container‑return envelopes shall be retained by the board to be counted by the county board of elections as follows:
(1) Only those absentee
ballots returned to the county board of elections no later than 5:00 p.m. on
the day before election day in a properly executed container‑return
envelope or absentee ballots received pursuant to G.S. 163‑231(b)(2)b.
or c. G.S. 163‑231(b)(2) shall be counted, except to
the extent federal law requires otherwise.counted.
(2) The county board of
elections shall meet at 5:00 p.m. on election day in the board office or other
public location in the county courthouse for the purpose of counting all
absentee ballots except those which have been challenged before 5:00 p.m. on
election day and those received pursuant to G.S. 163‑231(b)(2)b.
or c. G.S. 163‑231(b)(2). Any elector of the county shall
be permitted to attend the meeting and allowed to observe the counting process,
so long as the elector does not in any manner interfere with the election
officials in the discharge of their duties.
The county
board of elections may begin counting absentee ballots issued under Article 21A
of this Chapter between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. and may begin
counting all absentee ballots between the hours of 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. upon
the adoption of a resolution at least two weeks prior to the election in which
the hour and place of counting absentee ballots shall be stated. The resolution
also may provide for an additional meeting following the day of the election
and prior to the day of canvass to count absentee ballots received pursuant to G.S. 163‑231(b)(2)b.
or c. G.S. 163‑231(b)(2) as provided in subdivision (11)
of this section. A copy of the resolution shall be published once a week for
two weeks prior to the election, in a newspaper having general circulation in
the county. Notice may additionally be made on a radio or television station or
both, but the notice shall be in addition to the newspaper and other required
notice. The count shall be continuous until completed and the members shall not
separate or leave the counting place except for unavoidable necessity, except
that if the count has been completed prior to the time the polls close, it
shall be suspended until that time pending receipt of any additional ballots.
Nothing in this section prohibits a county board of elections from taking
preparatory steps for the count earlier than the times specified in this
section, as long as the preparatory steps do not reveal to any individual not
engaged in the actual count election results before the times specified in this
subdivision for the count to begin. By way of illustration and not limitation,
a preparatory step for the count would be the entry of tally cards from direct
record electronic voting units into a computer for processing. The board shall
not announce the result of the count before 7:30 p.m.
…
(9) In the event a political
party does not have a member of the county board of elections present at the
meeting to count absentee ballots due to illness or other cause of the member,
the counting shall not commence until the county party chairman chair
of the absent member, or a member of the party's county executive
committee, is in attendance. The person shall act as an official witness to the
counting and shall sign the absentee ballot abstract as an
"observer".
…
(11) The county board of
elections shall meet after election day and prior to the date of canvass to
determine whether the container‑return envelopes for absentee ballots
received pursuant to G.S. 163‑231(b)(2)b. or c. G.S. 163‑231(b)(2)
have been properly executed. The county board of elections shall comply
with the requirements of G.S. 163‑230.1 for approval of
applications. Any absentee ballots received pursuant to G.S. 163‑231(b)(2)b.
or c. G.S. 163‑231(b)(2) shall be counted by the county
board of elections on the day of canvass. The county board of elections may
also meet following the day of the election and prior to the day of canvass to
count absentee ballots received pursuant to G.S. 163‑231(b)(2)b.
or c. G.S. 163‑231(b)(2) upon the adoption of a
resolution pursuant to subdivision (2) of this section. The county board of
elections shall comply with all other requirements of this section and G.S. 163‑230.1
for the counting of these absentee ballots.ballots
received pursuant to G.S. 163‑231(b)(2)."
SECTION 1.(d) G.S. 163‑89(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a) Time for Challenge.
– The absentee ballot of any voter received by the county board of elections
pursuant to G.S. 163‑231(b)(1) may be challenged on the day of
any statewide primary or general election or county bond election beginning no
earlier than noon and ending no later than 5:00 P.M., or by the chief judge at
the time of closing of the polls as provided in G.S. 163‑232 and
G.S. 163‑258.26(b). The absentee ballot of any voter received by the
county board of elections pursuant to G.S. 163‑231(b)(ii) or
(iii) G.S. 163‑231(b)(2) may be challenged no earlier
than noon on the day following the election and no later than 5:00 p.m. on the
next business day following the deadline for receipt of such absentee
ballots."
SECTION 2.(a) G.S. 163‑227.10 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(c) Each county board of elections and the State Board shall publish on its website and on any materials sent to voters the date by which absentee ballots are available for voting."
SECTION 2.(b) G.S. 163‑230.1 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"(a2) Publish Deadline for Written Request. – Each county board of elections and the State Board shall publish on its website and on any materials sent to voters the date by which a completed request form as described in subsection (a) of this section must be received by a county board of elections."
SECTION 3. Article 20 of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 163‑232.2. Ballot reporting.
(a) Each county board of elections shall report the following to the State Board during each day of the one‑stop early voting period:
(1) The number of absentee ballots that have been spoiled due to the voter voting in person at a one‑stop voting site.
(2) The number of outstanding absentee ballots.
(b) From the day after the day of the election through the day after the receipt deadline for absentee ballots, each county board of elections shall report the following to the State Board by 5:00 P.M. each day:
(1) The number of absentee ballots that have been counted.
(2) The number of outstanding absentee ballots.
(3) The number of voted provisional ballots.
(c) The State Board shall publish each report received by a county board of elections pursuant to this section on its website each day. Each list must be made publicly available and published in a readable and usable format."
SECTION 4. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to elections held on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 22nd day of November, 2021.
s/ Phil Berger
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
s/ Donna McDowell White
Presiding Officer of the House of Representatives
___________________________________________
Roy Cooper
Governor
Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 2021