§ 163-234. Counting absentee ballots by county board of elections. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 163‑234.  Countingabsentee ballots by county board of elections.

All absentee ballots returnedto the county board of elections in the container‑return envelopes shallbe retained by the board to be counted by the county board of elections asherein provided.

(1)        Only those absenteeballots returned to the county board of elections no later than 5:00 p.m. onthe day before election day in a properly executed container‑returnenvelope or absentee ballots received pursuant to G.S. 163‑231(b)(ii) or(iii) shall be counted, except to the extent federal law requires otherwise.

(2)        The county board ofelections shall meet at 5:00 p.m. on election day in the board office or otherpublic location in the county courthouse for the purpose of counting allabsentee ballots except those which have been challenged before 5:00 p.m. onelection day and those received pursuant to G.S. 163‑231(b)(ii) or (iii).Any elector of the county shall be permitted to attend the meeting and allowedto observe the counting process, provided the elector shall not in any mannerinterfere with the election officials in the discharge of their duties.

Provided,that the county board of elections is authorized to begin counting absenteeballots between the hours of 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. upon the adoption of aresolution at least two weeks prior to the election wherein the hour and placeof counting absentee ballots shall be stated. Such resolution also may providefor an additional meeting following the day of the election and prior to the dayof canvass to count absentee ballots received pursuant to G.S. 163‑231(b)(ii)or (iii) as provided in subdivision (10) of this section. A copy of theresolutions shall be published once a week for two weeks prior to the election,in a newspaper having general circulation in the county. Notice mayadditionally be made on a radio or television station or both, but such noticeshall be in addition to the newspaper and other required notice. The countshall be continuous until completed and the members shall not separate or leavethe counting place except for unavoidable necessity, except that if the counthas been completed prior to the time the polls close, it shall be suspendeduntil that time pending receipt of any additional ballots. Nothing in this sectionshall prohibit a county board of elections from taking preparatory steps forthe count earlier than the times specified in this section, as long as thepreparatory steps do not reveal to any individual not engaged in the actualcount election results before the times specified in this subdivision for thecount to begin. By way of illustration and not limitation, a preparatory stepfor the count would be the entry of tally cards from direct record electronicvoting units into a computer for processing. The board shall not announce theresult of the count before 7:30 p.m.

(2a)      Notwithstanding theprovisions of subdivision (2) of this section, a county board of elections may,at each meeting at which it approves absentee ballot applications pursuant toG.S. 163‑230.1(c) and (c1), remove those ballots from their envelopes andhave them read by an optical scanning machine, without printing the totals onthe scanner. The board shall complete the counting of these ballots at thetimes provided in subdivision (2) of this section. The State Board of Electionsshall provide instructions to county boards of elections for executing thisprocedure, and the instructions shall be designed to ensure the accuracy of thecount, the participation of board members of both parties, and the secrecy ofthe results before election day. This subdivision applies only in counties thatuse optical scan devices to count absentee ballots.

(3)        The counting ofabsentee ballots shall not commence until a majority and at least one board memberof each political party represented on the board is present and that fact ispublicly declared and entered in the official minutes of the county board.

(4)        The county board ofelections may employ such assistants as deemed necessary to count the absenteeballots, but each board member present shall be responsible for and observe andsupervise the opening and tallying of the ballots.

(5)        As each ballotenvelope is opened, the board shall cause to be entered into a pollbookdesignated "Pollbook of Absentee Voters" the name of the absenteevoter, or if the pollbook is computer‑generated, the board shall checkoff the name. Preserving secrecy, the ballots shall be placed in theappropriate ballot boxes, at least one of which shall be provided for each typeof ballot. The "Pollbook of Absentee Voters" shall also contain thenames of all persons who voted under G.S. 163‑227.2, but those names maybe printed by computer for inclusion in the pollbook.

Afterall ballots have been placed in the boxes, the counting process shall begin.

Ifone‑stop ballots under G.S. 163‑227.2 are counted electronically,that count shall commence at the time the polls close. If one‑stopballots are paper ballots counted manually, that count shall commence at thesame time as other absentee ballots are counted.

If achallenge transmitted to the board on canvass day by a chief judge issustained, the ballots challenged and sustained shall be withdrawn from theappropriate boxes, as provided in G.S. 163‑89(e).

Assoon as the absentee ballots have been counted and the names of the absenteevoters entered in the pollbook as required herein, the board members andassistants employed to count the absentee ballots shall each sign the pollbookimmediately beneath the last absentee voter's name entered therein. The countyboard of elections shall be responsible for the safekeeping of the pollbook ofabsentee voters.

(6)        Upon completion ofthe counting process the board members shall cause the results of the tally tobe entered on the absentee abstract prescribed by the State Board of Elections.The abstract shall be signed by the members of the board in attendance and theoriginal mailed immediately to the State Board of Elections. The county boardof elections may have a separate count on the abstract for one‑stopabsentee ballots under G.S. 163‑227.2.

(7)        One copy of theabsentee abstract shall be retained by the county board of elections and thetotals appearing thereon shall be added to the final totals of all votes castin the county for each office as determined on the official canvass.

(8)        In the event apolitical party does not have a member of the county board of elections presentat the meeting to count absentee ballots due to illness or other cause of themember, the counting shall not commence until the county party chairman of saidabsent member, or a member of the party's county executive committee, is inattendance. Such person shall act as an official witness to the counting andshall sign the absentee ballot abstract as an "observer."

(9)        The county board ofelections shall retain all container‑return envelopes and absenteeballots, in a safe place, for at least four months, and longer if any contestis pending concerning the validity of any ballot.

(10)      The county board ofelections shall meet after election day and prior to the date of canvass todetermine where the container‑return envelopes for absentee ballotsreceived pursuant to G.S. 163‑231(b)(ii) or (iii) has been properlyexecuted. The county board of elections shall comply with the requirements ofG.S. 163‑230.1 for approval of applications. Any absentee ballotsreceived pursuant to G.S. 163‑231(b)(ii) or (iii) shall be counted by thecounty board of elections on the day of canvass. The county board of electionsis also authorized to meet following the day of the election and prior to theday of canvass to count absentee ballots received pursuant to G.S. 163‑231(b)(ii)or (iii) upon the adoption of a resolution pursuant to subdivision (2) of thissection. The county board of elections shall comply with all other requirementsof this section for the counting of such absentee ballots.  (1939, c. 159, ss. 8, 9;1945, c. 758, s. 8; 1953, c. 1114; 1963, c. 547, s. 8; 1967, c. 775, s. 1; c.851, s. 2; 1973, c. 536, s. 1; 1975, c. 798, s. 3; 1977, c. 469, s. 1; c. 626,s. 1; 1989, c. 93, s. 7; 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 762, s. 55; 1995, c. 243,s. 1; 1999‑455, s. 14; 2005‑159, s. 1; 2006‑262, s. 1; 2009‑537,s. 8(d).)