Bill Text: NC H758 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Voter Integrity
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 3)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-04-13 - Ref To Com On Elections and Ethics Law [H758 Detail]
Download: North_Carolina-2017-H758-Amended.html
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2017
H 1
HOUSE BILL 758
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Short Title: Voter Integrity. |
(Public) |
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Sponsors: |
Representative Blust. For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site. |
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Referred to: |
Elections and Ethics Law |
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April 13, 2017
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to better ensure voter integrity.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
PART I. PROVISIONAL BALLOTS RETRIEVABLE
SECTION 1.1. G.S. 163‑166.11 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163‑166.11. Provisional voting requirements.
If an individual seeking to vote claims to be a registered voter in a jurisdiction as provided in G.S. 163‑82.1 and though eligible to vote in the election does not appear on the official list of eligible registered voters in the voting place, that individual may cast a provisional official ballot as follows:
(1) An election official at the voting place shall notify the individual that the individual may cast a provisional official ballot in that election.
(2) The individual may cast a provisional official ballot at that voting place upon executing a written affirmation before an election official at the voting place, stating that the individual is a registered voter in the jurisdiction as provided in G.S. 163‑82.1 in which the individual seeks to vote and is eligible to vote in that election. The provisional ballot shall be a retrievable ballot, such that if the ballot is counted and it is later determined that it should not have been counted, that ballot may be removed from the total.
(2a) A voter who has moved within the county more than 30 days before election day but has not reported the move to the board of elections shall not be required on that account to vote a provisional ballot at the one‑stop site, as long as the one‑stop site has available all the information necessary to determine whether a voter is registered to vote in the county and which ballot the voter is eligible to vote based on the voter's proper residence address. The voter with that kind of unreported move shall be allowed to vote the same kind of absentee ballot as other one‑stop voters as provided in G.S. 163‑227.2(e2).
(3) At the time the individual casts the provisional official ballot, the election officials shall provide the individual written information stating that anyone casting a provisional official ballot can ascertain whether and to what extent the ballot was counted and, if the ballot was not counted in whole or in part, the reason it was not counted. The State Board of Elections or the county board of elections shall establish a system for so informing a provisional voter. It shall make the system available to every provisional voter without charge, and it shall build into it reasonable procedures to protect the security, confidentiality, and integrity of the voter's personal information and vote.
(4) The cast provisional official ballot and the written affirmation shall be secured by election officials at the voting place according to guidelines and procedures adopted by the State Board of Elections. At the close of the polls, election officials shall transmit the provisional official ballots cast at that voting place to the county board of elections for prompt verification according to guidelines and procedures adopted by the State Board of Elections.
(5) The county board of elections shall count the individual's provisional official ballot for all ballot items on which it determines that the individual was eligible under State or federal law to vote."
PART II. PHYSICAL ADDRESS REQUIRED TO REGISTER TO VOTE
SECTION 2.1. G.S. 163‑57(1) reads as rewritten:
"§ 163‑57. Residence defined for registration and voting.
All election officials in determining the residence of a person offering to register or vote, shall be governed by the following rules, so far as they may apply:
(1) That place shall be considered the residence of a person in which that person's habitation is fixed, and to which, whenever that person is absent, that person has the intention of returning.
a. In the event that a person's habitation is divided by a State, county, municipal, precinct, ward, or other election district, then the location of the bedroom or usual sleeping area for that person with respect to the location of the boundary line at issue shall be controlling as the residency of that person.
b. If the person disputes the determination of residency, the person may request a hearing before the county board of elections making the determination of residency. The procedures for notice of hearing and the conduct of the hearing shall be as provided in G.S. 163‑86. The presentation of an accurate and current determination of a person's residence and the boundary line at issue by map or other means available shall constitute prima facie evidence of the geographic location of the residence of that person.
c. In the event that a person's residence is not a traditional residence associated with real property, then the location of the usual sleeping area for that person shall be controlling as to the residency of that person. Residence shall be broadly construed to provide all persons with the opportunity to register and to vote, including stating a mailing address different from residence address.
d. A vacant lot or business address shall not be considered a residence or used as a residential address unless a person uses that location as their usual sleeping area."
PART III. ELECTION OBSERVER RIGHTS SPECIFIED
SECTION 3.1. G.S. 163‑45(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c) An observer shall do no electioneering at the voting place, and shall in no manner impede the voting process or interfere or communicate with or observe any voter in casting a ballot, but, subject to these restrictions, the chief judge and judges of elections shall permit the observer to make such observation and take such notes as the observer may desire. The observer shall be authorized to be present and move about the voting place prior to, during, and following the closing of the polls until the chief judge and judges have completed all of their duties. The observer shall be permitted to observe precinct officials checking voter registration from a position that allows an observer to clearly hear and understand voter responses.
A chief judge or judges of a precinct that limit the movement of or expel an observer from a voting place shall specify in writing and sign a statement of the reasons for the limitation or expulsion. The writing shall be witnessed by at least one of the other precinct judges. An observer may challenge the limitation or expulsion using the procedure for an election protest as provided in G.S. 163‑182.9. If the county board finds that a chief judge or judge expelled or limited an observer without cause, the chief judge or judge shall be fined the sum of the wage paid to the chief judge or judge for that election for a first offense and shall be permanently barred from serving as a chief judge or judge for a second offense."
PART IV. EFFECTIVE DATE
SECTION 4.1. This act becomes effective January 1, 2018.
