Bill Text: NC H607 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Require Use of Paper Ballots
Sponsorship: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 7-1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2013-07-15 - Held in Senate Clerk's Office [H607 Detail]
Download: North_Carolina-2013-H607-Amended.html
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2013
H 1
HOUSE BILL 607
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Short Title: Require Use of Paper Ballots. |
(Public) |
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Sponsors: |
Representatives Jones and Burr (Primary Sponsors). For a complete list of Sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly Web Site. |
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Referred to: |
Elections. |
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April 9, 2013
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to require the use of paper ballots in all elections in north carolina.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 163‑165(1) reads as rewritten:
"(1) "Ballot" means an instrument on which
a voter indicates a choice so that it may be recorded as a vote for or against
a certain candidate or referendum proposal. The term "ballot" may
include a paper ballot to be counted by hand, a paper ballot to be counted on
an electronic scanner, the face of a lever voting machine, the image on a
direct record electronic unit, or aor a paper ballot used on any
other voting system."
SECTION 2. G.S. 163‑165 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(5a) "Paper ballot" means an individual paper document that bears marks made by the voter by hand or through electronic means.
SECTION 3. G.S. 163‑165.7(a) reads as rewritten:
"§ 163‑165.7. Voting systems: powers and duties of State Board of Elections.
(a) Only voting systems that have been certified by
the State Board of Elections in accordance with the procedures and subject to
the standards set forth in this section and that have not been subsequently
decertified shall be permitted for use in elections in this State. Those
certified voting systems shall be valid in any election held in the State or in
any county, municipality, or other electoral district in the State. Subject to
all other applicable rules adopted by the State Board of Elections and, with
respect to federal elections, subject to all applicable federal regulations
governing voting systems, paper ballots marked by the voter and counted by hand
shall be deemed a certified voting system. The State Board of Elections shall
certify optical scan voting systems, optical scan with ballot markers voting
systems, and direct record electronic voting systems if any of those systems
meet all applicable requirements of federal and State law. The State Board may
certify additional voting systems only if they meet the requirements of the
request for proposal process set forth in this section and only if they
generate either a paper ballot or a paper record by which voters may
verify their votes before casting them and which provides a backup means of
counting the vote that the voter casts. Those voting systems may include optical
scan and direct record electronic (DRE) voting systems.systems that
produce a paper ballot. In consultation with the Office of Information
Technology Services, the State Board shall develop the requests for proposal
subject to the provisions of this Chapter and other applicable State laws.
Among other requirements, the request for proposal shall require at least all
of the following elements:
(1) That the vendor post a bond or letter of credit to cover damages resulting from defects in the voting system. Damages shall include, among other items, any costs of conducting a new election attributable to those defects.
(2) That the voting system comply with all federal requirements for voting systems.
(3) That the voting system must have the capacity to include in voting tabulation district returns the votes cast by voters outside of the voter's voting tabulation district as required by G.S. 163‑132.5G.
(4) With respect to electronic voting systems, that the
voting system generate a paper record ballot of each individual
vote cast, which paper record ballot shall be maintained in a
secure fashion and shall serve as a backup record for purposes of any hand‑to‑eye
count, hand‑to‑eye recount, or other audit. Electronic systems that
employ optical scan technology to count paper ballots shall be deemed to
satisfy this requirement.
(5) With respect to DRE voting systems, that the paper record
ballot generated by the system be viewable by the voter before the
vote is cast electronically, and that the system permit the voter to correct
any discrepancy between the electronic vote and the paper record ballot
before the vote is cast.
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(d) Subject to the provisions of this Chapter, the State Board of Elections shall prescribe rules for the adoption, handling, operation, and honest use of certified voting systems, including all of the following:
(1) Procedures for county boards of elections to utilize when recommending the purchase of a certified voting system for use in that county.
(2) Form of official ballot labels to be used on voting systems.
(3) Operation and manner of voting on voting systems.
(4) Instruction of precinct officials in the use of voting systems.
(5) Instruction of voters in the use of voting systems.
(6) Assistance to voters using voting systems.
(7) Duties of custodians of voting systems.
(8) Examination and testing of voting systems in a public forum in the county before and after use in an election.
(9) Notwithstanding G.S. 132‑1.2, procedures for the review and examination of any information placed in escrow by a vendor pursuant to G.S. 163‑165.9A by only the following persons:
a. State Board of Elections.
b. Office of Information Technology Services.
c. The State chairs of each political party recognized under G.S. 163‑96.
d. The purchasing county.
Each person listed in sub‑subdivisions a. through d. of this subdivision may designate up to three persons as that person's agents to review and examine the information. No person shall designate under this subdivision a business competitor of the vendor whose proprietary information is being reviewed and examined. For purposes of this review and examination, any designees under this subdivision and the State party chairs shall be treated as public officials under G.S. 132‑2.
(10) With respect to electronic voting systems,
procedures to maintain the integrity of both the electronic vote count and the
paper record.ballot. Those procedures shall at a minimum include
procedures to protect against the alteration of the paper record ballot
after a machine vote has been recorded and procedures to prevent removal by
the voter from the voting enclosure of any paper record or copy of an individually
voted paper ballot or of any other device or item whose removal from the
voting enclosure could permit compromise of the integrity of either the machine
count or the paper recordballot.
�."
SECTION 4. G.S. 163‑166.7(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c) The State Board of Elections shall promulgate rules for the process of voting. Those rules shall emphasize the appearance as well as the reality of dignity, good order, impartiality, and the convenience and privacy of the voter. Those rules, at a minimum, shall include procedures to ensure that all the following occur:
(1) The voting system remains secure throughout the period voting is being conducted.
(2) Only properly voted official ballots or paper
records of individual voted ballots are introduced into the voting system.
(3) Except as provided by G.S. 163‑166.9, no official ballots leave the voting enclosure during the time voting is being conducted there. The rules shall also provide that during that time no one shall remove from the voting enclosure any paper record or copy of an individually voted ballot or of any other device or item whose removal from the voting enclosure could permit compromise of the integrity of either the machine count or the paper record.
(4) All improperly voted official ballots or paper
records of individual voted ballots are returned to the precinct officials
and marked as spoiled.
(5) Voters leave the voting place promptly after voting.
(6) Voters not clearly eligible to vote in the precinct but who seek to vote there are given proper assistance in voting a provisional official ballot or guidance to another voting place where they are eligible to vote.
(7) Information gleaned through the voting process that would be helpful to the accurate maintenance of the voter registration records is recorded and delivered to the county board of elections.
(8) The registration records are kept secure. The State Board of Elections shall permit the use of electronic registration records in the voting place in lieu of or in addition to a paper pollbook or other registration record.
(9) Party observers are given access as provided by G.S. 163‑45 to current information about which voters have voted.
(10) The voter, before voting, shall sign that voter's name on the pollbook, other voting record, or voter authorization document. If the voter is unable to sign, a precinct official shall enter the person's name on the same document before the voter votes."
SECTION 5. G.S. 163‑182.1(b)(1) reads as rewritten:
"(1) Provide for a sample hand‑to‑eye
count of the paper ballots or paper records of a statewide ballot item
in every county. The presidential ballot item shall be the subject of the
sampling in a presidential election. If there is no statewide ballot item, the
State Board shall provide a process for selecting district or local ballot
items to adequately sample the electorate. The State Board shall approve in an
open meeting the procedure for randomly selecting the sample precincts for each
election. The random selection of precincts for any county shall be done
publicly after the initial count of election returns for that county is
publicly released or 24 hours after the polls close on election day, whichever
is earlier. The sample chosen by the State Board shall be of one or more full
precincts, full counts of mailed absentee ballots, full counts of one or more
one‑stop early voting sites, or a combination. The size of the sample of
each category shall be chosen to produce a statistically significant result and
shall be chosen after consultation with a statistician. The actual units shall
be chosen at random. In the event of a material discrepancy between the
electronic or mechanical count and a hand‑to‑eye count, the hand‑to‑eye
count shall control, except where paper ballots or records have been
lost or destroyed or where there is another reasonable basis to conclude that
the hand‑to‑eye count is not the true count. If the discrepancy
between the hand‑to‑eye count and the mechanical or electronic
count is significant, a complete hand‑to‑eye count shall be
conducted."
SECTION 6. G.S. 163‑182.2(b)(1a) reads as rewritten:
"(1a) For optical scan and direct record electronic
voting systems, and for any other voting systems in which ballots are counted
other than on paper by hand and eye, those rules shall provide for a sample
hand‑to‑eye count of the paper ballots or paper records of a
sampling of a statewide ballot item in every county. The presidential ballot
item shall be the subject of the sampling in a presidential election. If there
is no statewide ballot item, the State Board shall provide a process for
selecting district or local ballot items to adequately sample the electorate.
The State Board shall approve in an open meeting the procedure for randomly
selecting the sample precincts for each election. The random selection of
precincts for any county shall be done publicly after the initial count of
election returns for that county is publicly released or 24 hours after the
polls close on election day, whichever is earlier. The sample chosen by the
State Board shall be of one or more full precincts, full counts of mailed
absentee ballots, and full counts of one or more one‑stop early voting
sites. The size of the sample of each category shall be chosen to produce a
statistically significant result and shall be chosen after consultation with a
statistician. The actual units shall be chosen at random. In the event of a
material discrepancy between the electronic or mechanical count and a hand‑to‑eye
count, the hand‑to‑eye count shall control, except where paper
ballots or records have been lost or destroyed or where there is another
reasonable basis to conclude that the hand‑to‑eye count is not the
true count. If the discrepancy between the hand‑to‑eye count and
the mechanical or electronic count is significant, a complete hand‑to‑eye
count shall be conducted. The sample count need not be done on election night."
SECTION 7. G.S. 163‑227.2(e1) reads as rewritten:
"(e1) If a county uses a voting system with
retrievable ballots, that county's board of elections may by resolution elect
to conduct one‑stop absentee voting according to the provisions of this
subsection. In a county in which the board has opted to do so, a one‑stop
voter shall cast the ballot and then shall deposit the ballot in the ballot box
or voting system in the same manner as if such box or system was in use in a
precinct on election day. At the end of each business day, or at any time when
there will be no employee or officer of the board of elections on the premises,
the ballot box or system shall be secured in accordance with a plan approved by
the State Board of Elections, which shall include that no additional ballots
have been placed in the box or system. Any county board desiring to conduct one‑stop
voting according to this subsection shall submit a plan for doing so to the
State Board of Elections. The State Board shall adopt standards for conducting
one‑stop voting under this subsection and shall approve any county plan
that adheres to its standards. The county board shall adhere to its State Board‑approved
plan. The plan shall provide that each one‑stop ballot shall have a
ballot number on it in accordance with G.S. 163‑230.1(a2), or shall
have an equivalent identifier to allow for retrievability. The standards
shall address retrievability in one‑stop voting on direct record
electronic equipment where no paper ballot is used."
SECTION 8. Any direct record electronic (DRE) voting systems currently certified by the State Board of Elections which do not use paper ballots shall be decertified and shall not be used in any election held on or after January 1, 2014. Decertification of a DRE voting system that does not use paper ballots may not be appealed to the Superior Court of Wake County pursuant to G.S. 163‑165.7(b).
SECTION 9. Section 8 is effective when it becomes law. The remainder of this act becomes effective January 1, 2014, and applies to elections held on or after that date.
