§ 163-82.10. Official record of voter registration. - North Carolina Statutes

§ 163‑82.10.  Officialrecord of voter registration.

(a)        Official Record. – TheState voter registration system is the official voter registration list for theconduct of all elections in the State. The State Board of Elections and thecounty board of elections may keep copies of voter registration data, includingvoter registration applications, in any medium and format expressly approved bythe Department of Cultural Resources pursuant to standards and conditionsestablished by the Department and mutually agreed to by the Department and theState Board of Elections. A completed and signed registration application form,if available, described in G.S. 163‑82.3, once approved by the countyboard of elections, becomes backup to the official registration record of thevoter. Full or partial social security numbers, dates of birth, the identity ofthe public agency at which the voter registered under G.S. 163‑82.20, anddrivers license numbers that may be generated in the voter registrationprocess, by either the State Board of Elections or a county board of elections,are confidential and shall not be considered public records and subject todisclosure to the general public under Chapter 132 of the General Statutes.Cumulative data based on those items of information may be publicly disclosedas long as information about any individual cannot be discerned from thedisclosed data. Disclosure of information in violation of this subsection shallnot give rise to a civil cause of action. This limitation of liability does notapply to the disclosure of information in violation of this subsection as aresult of gross negligence, wanton conduct, or intentional wrongdoing thatwould otherwise be actionable. The signature of the voter, either on the paperapplication or an electronically captured image of it, may be viewed by thepublic but may not be copied or traced except by election officials forelection administration purposes. Any such copy or tracing is not a publicrecord.

(a1)      Paperless, InstantElectronic Transfer. – The application described in G.S. 163‑82.3 may beeither a paper hard copy or an electronic document.

(b)        Access toRegistration Records. – Upon request by that person, the county board ofelections shall provide to any person a list of the registered voters of thecounty or of any precinct or precincts in the county. The county board mayfurnish selective lists according to party affiliation, gender, race, date ofregistration, precinct name, precinct identification code, congressionaldistrict, senate district, representative district, and, where applicable,county commissioner district, city governing board district, fire district,soil and water conservation district, and voter history including primary,general, and special districts, or any other reasonable category. No listproduced under this section shall contain a voter's date of birth. However,lists may be produced according to voters' ages. Both the following shall applyto all counties:

(1)        The county board ofelections shall make the voter registration information available to the publicon electronic or magnetic medium. For purposes of this section,"electronic or magnetic medium" means any of the media in use by theState Board of Elections at the time of the request.

(2)        Information requestedon electronic or magnetic medium shall contain the following: voter name,county voter identification number, residential address, mailing address, sex,race, age but not date of birth, party affiliation, precinct name, precinctidentification code, congressional district, senate district, representativedistrict, and, where applicable, county commissioner district, city governingboard district, fire district, soil and water conservation district, and anyother district information available, and voter history including primary,general, and special districts, or any other reasonable category.

The county board shall requireeach person to whom a list is furnished to reimburse the board for the actualcost incurred in preparing it, except as provided in subsection (c) of thissection. Actual cost for the purpose of this section shall not include the costof any equipment or any imputed overhead expenses. When furnishing informationunder this subsection to a purchaser on a magnetic medium provided by thecounty board or the purchaser, the county board may impose a service charge ofup to twenty‑five dollars ($25.00).

(c)        Free Lists. – Acounty board shall provide, upon written request, one free list of all theregistered voters in the county to the State chair of each political party andto the county chair of each political party once in every odd‑numberedyear, once during the first six calendar months of every even‑numberedyear, and once during the latter six calendar months of every even‑numberedyear. Each free list shall include the name, address, gender, age but not dateof birth, race, political affiliation, voting history, precinct, precinct name,precinct identification code, congressional district, senate district,representative district, and, where applicable, county commissioner district,city governing board district, fire district, soil and water conservationdistrict, and voter history including primary, general, and special districtsof each registered voter. All free lists shall be provided as soon aspracticable on one of any electronic or magnetic media, but no later than 30days after written request. Each State party chair shall provide theinformation on the media received from the county boards or a copy of the mediacontaining the data itself to candidates of that party who request the data inwriting. As used in this section, "political party" means a politicalparty as defined in G.S. 163‑96.

(d)        Exception forAddress of Certain Registered Voters. – Notwithstanding subsections (b) and (c)of this section, if a registered voter submits to the county board of electionsa copy of a protective order without attachments, if any, issued to that personunder G.S. 50B‑3 or a lawful order of any court of competent jurisdictionrestricting the access or contact of one or more persons with a registeredvoter or a current and valid Address Confidentiality Program authorization cardissued pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 15C of the General Statutes,accompanied by a signed statement that the voter has good reason to believethat the physical safety of the voter or a member of the voter's familyresiding with the voter would be jeopardized if the voter's address were opento public inspection, that voter's address is a public record but shall be keptconfidential as long as the protective order remains in effect or the voterremains a certified program participant in the Address Confidentiality Program.That voter's name, precinct, and the other data contained in that voter'sregistration record shall remain a public record. That voter's signed statementsubmitted under this subsection is a public record but shall be keptconfidential as long as the protective order remains in effect or the voterremains a certified program participant in the Address Confidentiality Program.It is the responsibility of the voter to provide the county board with a copyof the valid protective order in effect or a current and valid AddressConfidentiality Program authorization card issued pursuant to the provisions ofChapter 15C of the General Statutes. The voter's actual address shall be usedfor any election‑related purpose by any board of elections. That voter'saddress shall be available for inspection by a law enforcement agency or by aperson identified in a court order, if inspection of the address by that personis directed by that court order. It shall not be a violation of this section ifthe address of a voter who is participating in the Address ConfidentialityProgram is discovered by a member of the public in public records disclosed bya county board of elections prior to December 1, 2001. Addresses required to bekept confidential by this section shall not be made available to the jurycommission under the provisions of G.S. 9‑2.  (1901, c. 89, s. 83; Rev.,s. 4382; C.S., s. 6016; 1931, c. 80; 1939, c. 263, s. 31/2; 1949, c. 916, ss.6, 7; 1953, c. 843; 1955, c. 800; 1959, c. 883; 1963, c. 303, s. 1; 1965, c.1116, s. 1; 1967, c. 775, s. 1; 1973, c. 793, ss. 22, 25; 1975, c. 12; c. 395;1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1242; 1981, c. 39, s. 1; c. 87, s.1; c. 308, s. 1; c. 656;1983, c. 218, ss. 1, 2; 1985, c. 211, ss. 1, 2; c. 472, s. 1; 1993 (Reg. Sess.,1994), c. 762, s. 2; 1995 (Reg. Sess., 1996), c. 688, s. 2; 2001‑396, s.1; 2002‑171, s. 8; 2003‑226, ss. 2, 3; 2003‑278, s. 6; 2004‑127,s. 17(c); 2005‑428, s. 10(a), (b); 2007‑391, s. 19; 2008‑187,s. 33(a); 2009‑541, s. 12.)