Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that amends State Board of Elections policies on ballot curing in North Carolina.

Highlights:

• Requires voters to submit corrected registration forms to the county board by 12:00pm on the fifth business day after the election for their vote to be counted (Sec. 1).

• Requires the county board to notify a voter if their provisional ballot or their provisional ballot affidavit is missing their signature (Sec. 1).

• Requires voters to provide the correct signatures for their provisional ballot to the county board by 12:00pm on the fifth business day after the election for their vote to be counted (Sec. 1).

• Authorizes vote counting to begin between 9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. on election day so long as such counting is scheduled at least two weeks prior and the results are not revealed prior to the close of polls (Sec. 1).

• Requires vote counting to be conducted in the presence of precinct officials of all political parties then present (Sec. 1).

• Authorizes any member of the public to witness the vote counting as long as they do not participate or interfere (Sec. 1).

• Authorizes county boards to review provisional ballots and prepare to count such ballots as long as these steps do not reveal the result of the count before election day (Sec. 1).

• Authorizes the county board to decide whether or not to count a provisional ballot if there are grounds to believe the affidavit is false within five business days of the election (Sec. 1).

• Requires any resolution required by this section to be published once a week for two weeks prior to the election in a newspaper that has general circulation in the county (Sec. 1).

• Authorizes absentee ballots issued to visually impaired voters to be submitted through an accessible absentee portal (Sec. 1).

• Authorizes a voter’s near relative or verifiable legal guardian to deliver their absentee ballot in person as long as they verify their eligibility via affidavit (Sec. 1).

• Requires the State Board of Elections to adopt rules to implement the provisions related to absentee voting (Sec. 1).

• Authorizes the county boards to meet to count absentee ballots at any time from 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. (Sec. 1).

• Prohibits the county boards from adjourning the meeting until the absentee ballots are all counted, but allows them to recess (Sec. 1).

• Prohibits voting equipment used during the early voting period from being able to receive additional ballots associated with the early voting period after the period has concluded (Sec. 1).

• Requires early voting paper ballots to be locked in a secured space separate from any electronic records and controlled by a limited chain of custody (Sec. 1).

• Requires electronic early voting records to be locked in a secured space and controlled by a limited chain of custody (Sec. 1).

• Authorizes electronic early voting records to be detached from the voting equipment for purposes of storage (Sec. 1).

• Prohibits a ballot cast by someone who died between the time they cast their ballot and 11:59 P.M. on the day before the election from being counted (Sec. 3).

• Authorizes State Board of Elections decisions to be challenged in the Superior Court of the county in which the person seeking review resides (Sec. 4).

• Specifies that this act is effective upon passage (Sec. 6).

Full Bill Text