Bill Text: NC H239 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Restore Early Voting Days
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 36-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-17 - Ref To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House [H239 Detail]
Download: North_Carolina-2015-H239-Amended.html
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2015
H 1
HOUSE BILL 239
Short Title: Restore Early Voting Days. |
(Public) |
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Sponsors: |
Representatives L. Hall, Lucas, Pierce, and Harrison (Primary Sponsors). For a complete list of Sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly Web Site. |
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Referred to: |
Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House. |
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March 17, 2015
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT that restores the number of early voting days to the number of days prior to the enactment of the Voter Information Verification Act.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 163‑227.2 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163‑227.2. Alternate procedures for requesting application for absentee ballot; "one‑stop" voting procedure in board office.
…
(b) (Effective until January 1, 2016) Not
earlier than the second third Thursday before an election, in
which absentee ballots are authorized, in which a voter seeks to vote and not
later than 1:00 P.M. on the last Saturday before that election, the voter shall
appear in person only at the office of the county board of elections, except as
provided in subsection (g) of this section. A county board of elections shall
conduct one‑stop voting on the last Saturday before the election until
1:00 P.M. and may conduct one‑stop voting until 5:00 P.M. on that
Saturday. That voter shall enter the voting enclosure at the board office
through the appropriate entrance and shall at once state his or her name and
place of residence to an authorized member or employee of the board. In a
primary election, the voter shall also state the political party with which the
voter affiliates and in whose primary the voter desires to vote, or if the
voter is an unaffiliated voter permitted to vote in the primary of a particular
party under G.S. 163‑119, the voter shall state the name of the
authorizing political party in whose primary he wishes to vote. The board
member or employee to whom the voter gives this information shall announce the
name and residence of the voter in a distinct tone of voice. After examining
the registration records, an employee of the board shall state whether the
person seeking to vote is duly registered. If the voter is found to be
registered that voter may request that the authorized member or employee of the
board furnish the voter with an application form as specified in G.S. 163‑227.
The voter shall complete the application in the presence of the authorized
member or employee of the board, and shall deliver the application to that
person.
(b) (Effective January 1, 2016) Not earlier
than the second third Thursday before an election, in which
absentee ballots are authorized, in which a voter seeks to vote and not later
than 1:00 P.M. on the last Saturday before that election, the voter shall
appear in person only at the office of the county board of elections, except as
provided in subsection (g) of this section. A county board of elections shall
conduct one‑stop voting on the last Saturday before the election until
1:00 P.M. and may conduct one‑stop voting until 5:00 P.M. on that
Saturday. That voter shall enter the voting enclosure at the board office
through the appropriate entrance and shall at once state his or her name and
place of residence to an authorized member or employee of the board and present
photo identification in accordance with G.S. 163‑166.13. In a
primary election, the voter shall also state the political party with which the
voter affiliates and in whose primary the voter desires to vote, or if the
voter is an unaffiliated voter permitted to vote in the primary of a particular
party under G.S. 163‑119, the voter shall state the name of the
authorizing political party in whose primary he wishes to vote. The board
member or employee to whom the voter gives this information shall announce the
name and residence of the voter in a distinct tone of voice. After examining
the registration records, an employee of the board shall state whether the
person seeking to vote is duly registered. If the voter is found to be
registered that voter may request that the authorized member or employee of the
board furnish the voter with an application form as specified in G.S. 163‑227.
The voter shall complete the application in the presence of the authorized
member or employee of the board, and shall deliver the application to that
person.
…
(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
section, a county board of elections by unanimous vote of all its members may
provide for one or more sites in that county for absentee ballots to be applied
for and cast under this section. Every individual staffing any of those sites
shall be a member or full‑time employee of the county board of elections
or an employee of the county board of elections whom the board has given
training equivalent to that given a full‑time employee. Those sites must
be approved by the State Board of Elections as part of a Plan for
Implementation approved by both the county board of elections and by the State
Board of Elections which shall also provide adequate security of the ballots
and provisions to avoid allowing persons to vote who have already voted. The
Plan for Implementation shall include a provision for the presence of political
party observers at each one‑stop site equivalent to the provisions in G.S. 163‑45
for party observers at voting places on election day. A county board of
elections may propose in its Plan not to offer one‑stop voting at the
county board of elections office; the State Board may approve that proposal in
a Plan only if the Plan includes at least one site reasonably proximate to the
county board of elections office and the State Board finds that the sites in
the Plan as a whole provide adequate coverage of the county's electorate. If a
county board of elections has considered a proposed Plan or Plans for
Implementation and has been unable to reach unanimity in favor of a Plan, a
member or members of that county board of elections may petition the State
Board of Elections to adopt a plan for it. If petitioned, the State Board may
also receive and consider alternative petitions from another member or members
of that county board. The State Board of Elections may adopt a Plan for that
county. The State Board, in that plan, shall take into consideration factors
including geographic, demographic, and partisan interests of that county. Any
plan adopted by either the county board of elections or the State Board of
Elections under this subsection shall provide for the same days of operation
and same number of hours of operation on each day for all sites in that county
for that election. The requirement of the previous sentence does not apply to
the county board of elections office itself nor, if one‑stop voting is
not conducted at the county board of elections office, to the reasonably
proximate alternate site approved under this subsection.
…
(g2) Notwithstanding the requirements of
subsection (g) and (g1) of this section, for any county board of elections that
provided for one or more sites during the 2010 or 2012 general election, that
county shall provide, at a minimum, the following:
(1) The county board of elections shall
calculate the cumulative total number of scheduled voting hours at all sites
during the 2012 primary and general elections, respectively, that the county
provided for absentee ballots to be applied for and voted under this section.
For elections which include a presidential candidate on the ballot, the county
shall ensure that at least the same number of hours offered in 2012 is offered
for absentee ballots to be applied for and voted under this section through a
combination of hours and numbers of one‑stop sites during the primary or
general election, correspondingly.
(2) The county board of elections shall
calculate the cumulative total number of scheduled voting hours at all sites
during the 2010 primary and general elections, respectively, that the county
provided for absentee ballots to be applied for and voted under this section. For
elections which do not include a presidential candidate on the ballot, the
county shall ensure that at least the same number of hours offered in 2010 is
offered for absentee ballots to be applied for and voted under this section
through a combination of hours and numbers of one‑stop sites during the
primary or general election, correspondingly.
As used in this subsection, the phrase "cumulative
total number of scheduled voting hours" includes those at the office of
the county board of elections or the reasonably proximate alternate site
approved under subsection (g) of this section.
The State Board of Elections, to ensure compliance with
this subsection, may approve a one‑stop site in a building that the
county board of elections is not entitled under G.S. 163‑129 to
demand and use as an election‑day voting place, but may deny approval if
a member of that board presents evidence that other equally suitable sites were
available and the use of the sites chosen would unfairly advantage or
disadvantage geographic, demographic, or partisan interests of that county.
(g3) A county board of elections by unanimous
vote of the board, with all members present and voting, may submit a request to
the State Board to reduce the number of hours established in subsection (g2) of
this section for a primary or a general election. The reduction shall take
effect for that primary or general election only if approved by unanimous vote
of the State Board with all members present and voting.
…."
SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to elections held on or after September 1, 2015.