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Board Meeting Agenda Packet 11-17-2022 MEETING AGENDA Date: November 17, 2022 Time: 2:00 PM Location: Bd of Elections Office, Longleaf Room Type: Special Scheduled Attendees: Oliver Carter III, Chair Rae Hunter-Havens, Elections Director Derrick R. Miller, Secretary Caroline Dawkins, Elections Deputy Director Lyana G. Hunter, Member Joan Geiszler-Ludlum, Administrative Elections Bruce Kemp, Member Technician Russ C. Bryan, Member Jenna Dahlgren, Elections Logistics Specialist Visitor(s): Lisa Wurtzbacher, Assistant County Manager; Kemp Burpeau, Deputy County Attorney AGENDA ITEMS 1. Meeting Opening a. Call to Order b. Preliminary Announcement i. Silence Phones ii. Recording & Streaming iii. Other c. Pledge of Allegiance d. Approval of Agenda 2. Public Comment and Questions • 2-minute limit • 10-minute total 3. New Business a. Sample Audit Count b. Review of Supplemental Absentee Ballot Applications c. Review of Provisional Ballot Applications 4. Adjournment *Agenda packets are sent via email in advance of meetings. Special Meeting New Hanover County Board of Elections November 17, 2022 Subject: Approval of Agenda Summary: N/A Board Action Required: Staff recommends approval Item # 1c Special Meeting New Hanover County Board of Elections November 17, 2022 Subject: Public Comment Summary: This is an opportunity for members of the public to provide comment on elections-related matters. Each commenter will be limited to two minutes with a ten-minute limit total for all public comments. Board Action Required: Discuss as necessary Item # 2 Item # 2 Special Meeting New Hanover County Board of Elections November 17, 2022 Subject: Sample Audit Count (FP08 and H13) Applicable Statutes and/or Rules N.C. Gen. Stat §§ 163-182.2(a)(2), 163-182.1(b)(1), 163-182.2(b)(2), and 163-182.1 Summary: All county boards of elections in North Carolina must complete a sample audit count after Election Day and prior to canvass as part of the post-Election Day auditing process that helps ensure the reliability of elections results tabulated by the voting equipment. The purpose of this audit count is to compare the machine counts with hand-to-eye counts to ensure that the voting equipment read the voter’s choices accurately. In accordance with NC Gen. Stat. § 163-182.2, the NC State Board of Elections randomly chooses a sample of ballots from different voting sites and/or methods. All sites and voting methods are included for possible selection in the random selection process. Per statute, the ballot item selected for the sample audit shall be a statewide ballot item. The random selection process conducted by the NC State Board Elections on Wednesday, November 9, 2022, determined that New Hanover County will conduct a full count of the following precincts and contests: •FP08 – Carolina Beach Municipal Complex Recreation Center – Full count of Election Day ballots for US Senate •H13– Plantation Village – Full count of Election Day ballots for US Senate A bipartisan team of election officials will hand count the ballots in a specific precinct or from a specific voting method. The hand-counted results are compared to the tabulated machine results and any variances are reported to the State Board. Document/s Included: Numbered Memo 2019-07 What Constitutes a Vote, and Rules for Conducting the Sample Audit Count (Provided at Board Meeting) Board Action Required: Discuss as necessary Item # 3a Mailing Address: P.O. Box 27255, Ra-leigh, NC 27611 (919) 814-0700 or(866) 522-4723 Fax: (919) 715-0135 Numbered Memo 2019-07 TO: County Boards of Elections FROM: Karen Brinson Bell, Executive Director RE: Guidance Regarding What Constitutes a Vote DATE: November 1, 2019 Pursuant to Section 301 (a)(6) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, codified as 42 U.S.C. § 15481(a)(6), and N.C.G.S. § 163-182.1(b), this guidance is being provided to county boards of elections to ensure uniformity in the tabulation of election results and the conduct of hand-to-eye counts, hand-to-eye recounts, and other audits. It updates and supersedes prior guidance on this subject from 2006. This memo also provides guidance on when a vote should be counted in cir-cumstances in which a voting system is unable to determine the voter’s intent with respect to a marked ballot. State law sets out clear standards for what constitutes a vote. The purpose of this memo is to explain those standards and provide examples of their application to particular circumstances. Voting Systems The State Board of Elections may certify voting systems only if they meet statutory requirements, including generating 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. Voting systems are required to generate a paper record of each individual vote cast. The paper ballot must be maintained in a secure fashion and serves as the 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 are deemed to satisfy the requirement.1 1 G.S. § 163-165.7(a): … The State Board may certify voting systems only if they meet the re- quirements set forth in this section and only if they generate a paper ballot 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 that produce a paper ballot. Among other re- quirements as set by the State Board of Elections, the certification requirements shall require at least all of the following elements: … (4)With respect to electronic voting systems, that the voting system generate a paper ballot of each individual vote cast, which paper ballot shall be maintainedin a secure fashion and shall serve as a backup record for purposes of any hand- 2 Regardless of whether the ballot is a standard paper ballot in which all candidates for a ballot item are printed on the ballot, or whether the ballot is a printout of only the selections the voter made, the voter must have the opportunity to verify his or her intent by confirming that the choices the voter selected are correctly marked on the ballot. The voter is not verifying that the barcodes or coordinates printed on the ballot for tabulation purposes are the voter’s choices; rather, the voter is verifying that the ovals or rectangles are accurately filled in on standard paper ballots or, in the case of a barcode ballot, the voter is verifying that the names printed on the ballot accurately reflect the voter’s selections. Any hand-to-eye count or other circumstance where a person is hand count-ing a ballot would use the selection that was verified by the voter, not the coordinates or barcodes. Ballot marking instructions are provided for each ballot. G.S. § 163-165.5(a)(6). Hand-marked ballots should be marked according to the instructions provided for the ballot using a pen or mark- ing device provided at the polling place to fill in the oval or rectangle next to the candidate for whom the voter wishes to vote. When a voter’s choice cannot be tabulated by the voting equip-ment, the principles and rules for counting official ballots as contained in G.S. §§ 163-182.1 and 182.2 and 08 NCAC 6B. 0105 shall apply. Ballot marking device (BMD) voting systems do not allow irregularly marked ballots. The voter should follow instructions on the voting equipment to ensure the vote is cast and that the voter has received confirmation thereof. Voter Intent Voter intent is the governing standard in the event questions arise about how to adjudicate the contents of a ballot. Questions about voter intent can arise when a voter hand marks a ballot and the voting system is unable to determine which choices the voter has made. This could occur if a voter uses an improper marking instrument, marks the ballot in an inappropriate manner, places marks in the wrong location on the ballot, or otherwise acts in a manner that causes the voter’s ballot to be unreadable by the voting system for which the ballot was designed. Questions about voter intent can also arise during a hand-to-eye count. Official ballots shall be counted according to the principles and rules contained in G.S. § 163-182.1(a): “(1) Only official ballots shall be counted; (2)No official ballot shall be rejected because of technical errors in marking it, unless it is impossible to clearly determine the voter's choice; (3)If it is impossible to clearly determine a voter's choice in a ballot item, the offi-cial ballot shall not be counted for that ballot item, but shall be counted in allother ballot items in which the voter's choice can be clearly determined; (4)If an official ballot is marked in a ballot item with more choices than there are offices to be filled or propositions that may prevail, the official ballot shall not be counted for that ballot item, but shall be counted in all other ballot items in to-eye count, hand-to-eye recount, or other audit. Electronic systems that em- ploy optical scan technology to count paper ballots shall be deemed to satisfy this requirement. 3 which there is no overvote and the voter's choice can be clearly determined; (5)If an official ballot is rejected by a scanner or other counting machine, but hu- man counters can clearly determine the voter's choice, the official ballot shallbe counted by hand and eye; and (6)Write-in votes shall not be counted in party primaries or in referenda, but shallbe counted in general elections if all of the following are true: a.The write-in vote is written by the voter or by a person authorized to assist the voter pursuant to G.S. 163-166.8; b.The write-in vote is not cast for a candidate who has failed to qualifyunder G.S. 163-123 as a write-in candidate; and c. The voter's choice can be clearly determined.” Examples The following non-exhaustive guidance provides examples of how to apply the standards in G.S. § 163-182.1(a) to real-world scenarios: •For the purpose of conducting sample hand-to-eye audits under G.S. § 163-182.1(b)(1), hand-to-eye recounts under §§ G.S. 163-182.7 and G.S. 163-182.7A, and hand-to-eye counts for any other reason, the printed names must always be used in counting the votes, rather than coordinates or barcodes. This is because the printed name is what the voter used to verify his or her intent. •If a write-in candidate’s name is misspelled or incomplete, a vote for the candidate should be counted if the board of elections can determine which candidate the voter intended to vote for. Pursuant to G.S. § 163-182.1(a)(3), a ballot should not be rejected due to technical errors unless it is impossible to determine a voter’s intent. •If a voter votes for a candidate by filling in the oval or rectangle or selecting the name on a BMD and also writes in a candidate’s name, the vote shall be counted one time for that candidate. G.S. § 163-182.1(4) does not apply in this circumstance because it is possible to determine what the voter intended. Similarly, if a voter writes in the same name more than once in a multi-seat contest, a vote shall be counted one time for that candidate. In all such instances where the voter attempts to use write-ins to vote for the same individual more than once, no more than one vote shall be counted for the candidate and the rest shall simply be reported as miscellaneous. •If the voter writes in a name but does not fill in the accompanying oval or rectangle, in a hand-to-eye count the vote shall be counted for that candidate if it can be determined who the voter intended to vote for. •If a voter votes for more than one candidate in a vote-for-one contest, the votes in that contest shall not be counted. This includes if one of the votes is a write-in and the accompanied oval or rectangle is not filled in. However, if a voter crosses out the 4 candidate for whom they overvoted, such that the county board of elections can determine the voter’s intent, then that vote shall be counted. Sample Audit Count County boards should immediately report any unexplained discrepancies discovered during a sam-ple audit count or any other hand-to-eye count to the State Board. In the event of a material dis-crepancy between the electronic or mechanical count and a hand-to-eye count, the hand-to-eye count shall control, and the canvass documents should reflect this, 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. G.S. § 163-182.2(b)(2). In a sample audit 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. G.S. § 163-182.2(b)(2). “Significant” has been interpreted to mean a difference that cannot be explained. It may be appropriate to conduct a second hand-to-eye count of the same ballots if the county board has an indication that human error may account for the difference between the electronic or mechanical count and the first hand-to-eye count. Special Meeting New Hanover County Board of Elections November 17, 2022 Subject: Review of Supplemental Absentee Ballot Applications Applicable Statutes and/or Rules N.C. Gen. Stat §§ 163-229(b), 163-230.1(f), 163-231(b)(2), 163-234(11), and 103-5, NCSBOE Numbered Memos 2022-15, 2022-09, 2022-11, 2021-07, 2021-03, 2020-29 and 2020-25 Summary: For the 2022 General Election, civilian ballots that arrive at a county board of elections office by 5:00 pm on Monday, November 14, 2022, are deemed timely if they are postmarked on or before Election Day. In most elections, the statutory deadline for the return of civilian ballots postmarked on or before Election Day is three days after the election by 5:00 pm, which usually falls on the Friday following the election (NC Gen. Stat. § 163-231(b)(2)). For the 2022 General Election, that deadline falls on Veterans Day, a state and federal holiday. In accordance with NC Gen. Stat. § 103-5 and Numbered Memo 2022- 09, the NC State Board of Elections extended the civilian deadline for the return of by mail ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day from Friday, November 11th to Monday, November 14th. Military and overseas absentee ballot applications, issued under Article 21A, should not be accepted unless they are received by the county board of elections not later than the end of business on the business day before canvass. At each absentee board meeting, the board should either approve or disapprove the absentee applications assigned to that meeting date. All absentee ballot applications for the 2022 General Election must include the following: 1. The voter’s certification of eligibility to vote the enclosed ballot. 2. The certification of two witnesses, to include their residence address, or one public notary. 3. The certification, to include residence address, of any individual that assisted a voter in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. §163-226.3. Per Numbered Memo 2021-03, there are three different types of deficiencies associated with absentee ballot applications, each of which corresponds to a specific course of action: deficiencies that can be cured by sending the voter a cure certification, deficiencies that require the ballot to be spoiled, and deficiencies that require additional board review and action. Deficiencies that can be cured with a certification: • Missing voter signature • Voter signed in the wrong place Deficiencies that require the ballot to be spoiled: Item # 3b • A witness or assistant did not print name (If the witness or assistant’s signature is legible such that the name can be determined, the absentee ballot application is not deficient and the ballot should not be spoiled, absent any other deficiency) • A witness or assistant did not print address (Failure to print witness zip code does not invalidate the application. Failure to include the city or state in the address does not invalidate the application if the county board of elections can determine the correct address) • Missing witness or assistant signature • Witness or assistant signed in place of voter signature (Otherwise, if all witness or assistant information is present on the application but not on the designated lines, then the application is not deficient, and the ballot should not be spoiled absent any other deficiency) • If container-return envelope arrives at the county board of elections office unsealed or appears to have been opened and re-sealed • The envelope indicates the voter is requesting a replacement ballot Deficiencies that require board action: • Deficiency is first noticed at a board meeting • No ballot in a container-return envelope • More than one ballot in a container-return envelope • Two voter’s ballots and container-return envelopes are switched Due to recent federal court order, voters, including those in assisted living facilities, who need assistance voting absentee by mail due to their disability may now receive assistance from any person they choose. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a disability is a physical or mental impairment that causes someone to be substantially limited in a major life activity. Under this federal order, a voter who is a patient or resident in a covered facility and needs assistance due to a disability may also receive assistance from an elected official, political party officeholder, or candidate. If voters in covered facilities do not need assistance due to a disability, then they may still request assistance from a near relative, legal guardian, or a MAT member. If an individual who belongs to one of these three categories is not available within seven calendar days of a voter’s request, then the voter may get assistance from anyone except: an owner, manager, director, or employee of the hospital, clinic, nursing home, or rest home where the voter is patient or resident; an elected official, candidate, or office holder in a political party; or a campaign manager or treasurer for a candidate or political party. If a voter is physically unable to sign or make their mark due to a disability, the person providing assistance with the ballot should write in the signature line, “Disabled-cannot sign” and complete the voter assistant certification on the application. In addition, the assistant may return a cure certification for a voter who needs assistance due to a disability. Since the board has delegated so much of the administrative detail of the election functions, duties, and work of the Board to the Elections Director, the staff are responsible for completing many of the administrative duties associated with by mail voting. These duties include, but are not limited to, the following: • After intake, inspecting the absentee ballot applications on each container-return envelope and making an initial determination as to whether the envelope was properly executed. If a deficiency exists, staff follow the process outlined in Numbered Memo 2021-03 to either send the voter a cure certification or spoil the ballot and reissue the ballot with a notice explaining the county board’s actions. • Performing an initial sort of ballot applications into categories upon initial review and presented those recommendations to the board at each meeting. Those categories may include designations for recommended approval, recommended disapproval, envelopes awaiting a cure certification, and those that staff have questions about that require deliberation by the board. • Verifying the list of ballot applications against the absentee pollbook. If the volume of by-mail ballots increases significantly, the county board may consider other ways to streamline this process to expedite the review of absentee ballot applications. In accordance with guidance issued by the NC State Board of Elections, the New Hanover County Board of Elections authorized staff at their October 11, 2022 meeting to use a bipartisan team to duplicate UOCAVA ballots that cannot be read by the DS850 high-speed central scanner prior to their assigned absentee meeting date provided that all requirements outlined in Numbered Memo 2020-25 are followed. Another way to expedite this process is for the county board to authorize the use two bipartisan teams of board members to review the applications during each meeting. The board by majority vote may also accept staff’s recommendations for approval without reviewing all absentee applications (Numbered Memo 2020-25). However, this delegation must include a process for the board to spot-check the envelopes to ensure accuracy and consistency. The review of certain types of applications cannot be delegated to staff members. Specifically, county board are required to individually review all applications that 1) have been recommended for disapproval by staff, (2) have a cure certification associated with that application, or (3) where staff need further guidance from the board as to whether the application was properly executed. At the meetings when ballots are optically scanned, a bipartisan duplication team is required to be present in the event a ballot needs to be duplicated to be successfully scanned by the central scanner. The scanning cannot begin until a majority of the board members and at least one board member from each party is physically in attendance. If it is not possible to scan all absentee ballots approved at a meeting, the board may recess the meeting to a later date, which could be the next absentee meeting. If this action is taken, county boards should send out a special meeting notice as soon as possible for the reconvened meeting. The 48-hour requirement for special meeting notices is not required for the reconvened meeting. At the end of each absentee meeting, all absentee applications and ballots should be reconciled with the number of ballot applications approved by the board equal in number to the number of ballots scanned by the tabulator. Document/s Included: NCSBOE Numbered Memos 2022-15, 2022-09, 2022-11, 2021-07, 2021-03, 2020-29 and 2020-25 , Supplemental Absentee Poll Book; Supplemental Absentee Certificates of Oath; Supplemental Absentee Abstract; Reconciliation Log Sheets (Provided at meeting) Board Action Required: Discuss as necessary and action required 1 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 27255, Raleigh, NC 27611 (919) 814-0700 or(866) 522-4723 Fax:(919) 715-0135 Numbered Memo 2022-15 TO: County Boards of Elections FROM: Karen Brinson Bell, Executive Director RE: Postmark Requirement for Mailed Civilian Absentee Ballots DATE: November 7, 2022 The purpose of this numbered memo is to identify the different ways that a “postmark” may appear on an absentee ballot container-return envelope, to help guide the process of determining whether a civilian absentee ballot that is received after Election Day may be approved.1 Postmark Requirement Under N.C.G.S. § 163-231(b)(2)b, civilian absentee ballots that arrive at the county board office after Election Day are timely, if [t]he ballots . . . are postmarked and that postmark is dated on or before the day of the statewide primary or general election or county bond election and are received by the county board of elections not later than three days after the election by 5:00 p.m.2 The postmark requirement for civilian ballots received after Election Day is in place to ensure that votes transmitted by mail were cast on or before Election Day. (There is no postmark requirement for military or overseas citizen ballots.3) The United States Postal Service (USPS) utilizes different postmarks to signify the location and date the USPS accepted custody of a mailpiece, and to indicate that the postage on the mailpiece has been used. (Accordingly, applying a postmark is sometimes referred to as “cancelling” the 1 N.C.G.S. § 163-231(b)(2)b. 2 If the third day after Election Day is a holiday—as it is this year—the receipt deadline moves to the next business day, which is Monday, November 14 this year. See N.C.G.S. § 103-5(a). 3 N.C.G.S. § 163-258.12(b). Military-overseas (or UOCAVA) ballots that are mailed must be received by 5:00 p.m. the day before county canvass. N.C.G.S. § 163-258.12(a). 2 postage on a mailpiece.4) However, USPS does not always affix a postmark to a ballot return envelope5 and sometimes postmarks are illegible. Nonetheless, under North Carolina law, a civilian absentee ballot that is received after Election Day and before the receipt deadline may be counted only if it contains a postmark and the county board can discern that the date on that postmark is Election Day or earlier. For illustrative purposes, Attachment A contains images showing the various types of postmarks that USPS may affix to postage on an envelope. This material was provided by the USPS counsel’s office. Please take note of the following: •All included postmark examples are valid. Every example, except for Item 12, is a machine-generated postmark, displaying in text the location and date of cancellation of postage. Item 12 shows a manually applied, or hand-stamped postmark. •Sometimes the postage on an envelope will include a date as well. That may also count as a valid postmark, but only in the examples of Items 4 and 7. In those examples, the postage is applied at a USPS retail counter and contains the date of receipt by USPS. So even if there is no separate machine-generated or hand-stamped postmark, the date appearing in one of these types of postage will still count as a valid postmark. On the other hand, the postage in Items 3 and 5 is not applied at a USPS retail counter but is instead applied by a business or other postal consumer, often using a private postage meter. Accordingly, the date in the postage in Items 3 and 5 cannot be used, by itself, as a postmark. You would need to have a traditional hand-stamped or machine-generated postmark, as well, for the ballot to count. Because the examples in Items 3 and 5 have both the postage and the machine-generated postmark, they are examples of acceptable postmarks. 4 See U.S. Postal Service, Handbook PO-408 – Area Mail Processing Guidelines, § 1-1.3 Postmarks, available at https://about.usps.com/handbooks/po408/ch1 003.htm. 5 See U.S. Postal Service, Office of Inspector General, Processing Readiness of Election and Political Mail During the 2020 General Elections Report Number 20-225-R20, 3 (“. . . we found that ballots are not always being postmarked as required and it is a challenge for the Postal Service to ensure full compli- ance. Some ballots did not receive a postmark due to: (1) envelopes sticking together when processed on a machine; (2) manual mail processing; or (3) personnel unaware that all return ballots, even those in pre- paid reply envelopes, need to receive a postmark.”). Item Postage Description Cancellation type Cancellation picture Application method 6 SSK Stamp Alternate Cancellation 8 PPI Alternate Cancellation 9 PERMIT Alternate Cancellation AFSM Flats Cancellation Mark Wavy bar 7 PVI (non-RSS) Alternate Cancellation (Note - the date on the PVI label is also a valid indication of USPS acceptance) 10 Alternate Postage / Picture permits Alternate Cancellation 11 12 Hand-Stamped Postmark Circular Date and Origin Manual Letter 4 RSS Alternate Cancellation (Note - the date on the RSS label is also a valid indication of USPS acceptance) 5 SSK Label Alternate Cancellation 2 Meter Marks without IBI Wavy bar 3 Meter Marks with IBI Alternate Cancellation Automated Letter MPE Automated Letter MPE Automated Letter MPE Automated Flats MPE Automated Letter MPE Automated Letter MPE Automated Letter MPE Automated Letter MPE Automated Letter MPE Automated Letter MPE For illustrative purposes only. Contains sample postage and postmarks. Wavy barStamps1 Automated Letter MPE ATTACHMENT A 1 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 27255, Ra-leigh, NC 27611 (919) 814-0700 or (866) 522-4723 Fax:(919) 715-0135 Numbered Memo 2022-09 TO: County Boards of Elections FROM: Karen Brinson Bell, Executive Director RE: Absentee Ballot Return Deadline DATE: August 17, 2022 This numbered memo provides guidance for when the civilian absentee-by-mail deadline falls on a holiday. This guidance applies to all future elections. State law provides that absentee ballots must be either: • Received by 5 p.m. on Election Day; or • Postmarked by Election Day and received no later than 5 p.m. three days after the election.1 In 2022, the deadline for receipt of postmarked absentee ballots falls on Friday, November 11, Veterans Day, a state and federal holiday.2 When a deadline for doing an act to be performed in a public office falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline moves to the next day the public office is open.3 Accordingly, when the deadline for the return of postmarked absentee ballots falls on a holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day, pursuant to G.S. § 103-5(a). Therefore, in 2022, the deadline for receipt of absentee ballots that are postmarked by Election Day is Monday, November 14. 1 G.S. § 163-231(b)(2)b. 2 5 U.S.C. § 6103; G.S. § 103-4(a)(12). 3 G.S. § 103-5(a) states: “Except as otherwise provided by law, when the day or the last day for doing any act required or permitted by law to be performed in a public office or courthouse falls on a Saturday, Sun- day, or legal holiday when the public office or courthouse is closed for transactions, the act may be per- formed on the next day that the public office or courthouse is open for transactions.” 1 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 27255, Raleigh, NC 27611 (919) 814-0700 or (866) 522-4723 Fax:(919) 715-0135 Numbered Memo 2022-11 TO: County Boards of Elections FROM: Karen Brinson Bell, Executive Director RE: Court Order Regarding Assistance for Absentee Voters with Disabilities DATE: August 29, 2022 On July 11, 2022, a federal court issued an order invalidating state laws preventing certain individuals from helping disabled voters request, complete, and submit absentee ballots.1 The court determined that these laws, as applied to disabled voters, violate federal law. Specifically, Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act permits any voter who is blind, disabled, or unable to read or write to request “assistance by a person of the voter’s choice, other than the voter’s employer or agent of that employer or officer or agent of the voter’s union.”2 This numbered memo provides guidance for county boards to comply with the court order. It supersedes Numbered Memo 2020-15 and any other prior memo to the extent they provide guidance regarding who may assist an absentee voter who needs assistance due to a disability. Assistance for Absentee Voters with Disabilities Voters who need assistance voting absentee by mail due to their disability may now receive assistance from any person they choose. This could be a friend, relative, or any other person the voter chooses to assist them. A candidate may not witness the ballot of a voter unless the candidate is the voter’s near relative.3 Voters in Covered Facilities A voter who needs assistance due to a disability and is a patient or resident in a covered facility may receive assistance from any person they choose. They may receive assistance from the staff 1 Disability Rights NC v. State Board of Elections, 5:21-CV-361-BO, Order on Motion for Summary Judgment (E.D.N.C. July 11, 2022). The specific laws that were invalidated with respect to assisting disabled voters are N.C.G.S. §§ 163-226.3, -230.1, -230.2, -230.3, and -231(b)(1). 2 52 U.S.C. § 10508. 3 However, a voter living in covered care facilities may receive assistance from a candidate if the voter needs assistance due to the voter’s disability. 2 of the hospital, clinic, nursing home, or rest home where they are a patient or resident. There is no requirement that the facility staff complete a log when they assist a voter, although the facility may choose to do so. Facility staff are not required to assist a voter if they do not wish to do so or are instructed not to do so by the facility. Facility staff may continue to rely on multipartisan assistance team (MAT) members to assist their residents, if that is the facility’s preference. Under the court’s order, a voter in a covered facility who needs assistance due to a disability may also receive assistance from an elected official, political party officeholder, or candidate. They may still request and use a MAT, but they are not required to do so. A voter who is a patient or resident in a covered facility but who does not need assistance due to a disability may request assistance from a near relative, legal guardian, or a MAT. Recall, the court’s order changes the rules only for voters who need assistance due to a disability. If a near relative, legal guardian, or MAT is not available within seven calendar days of such a voter’s request, the voter may get assistance from anyone EXCEPT: • An owner, manager, director, or employee of the hospital, clinic, nursing home, or rest home where the voter is a patient or a resident; • An elected official, candidate, or officeholder in a political party; or • A campaign manager or treasurer for a candidate or political party.4 Assistance with Absentee Voting Absentee Requests Upon request of a voter who needs assistance due to a disability, any person may assist the voter by: • Completing the absentee request form, according to the voter’s instruction; • Making the absentee request on the voter’s behalf, according to the voter’s instruction; and • Returning the request form, according to the voter’s instruction. The assistant may return the request form by mail or in person, or through the State Board’s online portal. 4 N.C.G.S. § 163-226.3(a)(4). 3 The assistant must complete Section 9 of the request form, including providing their name and address. The form is invalid if the assistant does not provide information such that the assistant’s name and address can be determined.5 If the assistant is making the request for the voter (i.e., not just helping to fill out the form, but making the request in lieu of the voter), they must also complete and sign Section 8. As long as the assistant’s address is listed in either Section 8 or Section 9, it is not required to be listed twice since the assistant’s address can be determined if it is listed once. Absentee Container-Return Envelopes Upon request of a voter who needs assistance due to a disability, any person, including a MAT member, may assist the voter by: • Completing the absentee container-return envelope, according to the voter’s instruction; • Marking the ballot, according to the voter’s instruction; • Signing the envelope if, due a disability, the voter is unable to sign or make their mark; and • Returning the ballot, according to the voter’s instruction. The assistant may return the ballot by mail or in person to the county board of elections office or a one-stop site in the county. The assistant must complete the Voter Assistant Certification section of the envelope. If a voter is physically unable to sign or make their mark due to disability, the person assisting with the ballot should write in the signature line, “Disabled - cannot sign” and must complete the Voter Assistant Certification located on the back of the ballot return envelope. The assistant may return a cure certification for a voter who needs assistance due to a disability. See Numbered Memo 2021-03 for information about the cure process for deficient absentee container-return envelopes. County boards shall keep a log for cure certifications that are hand-delivered to the county board office. Absence for Sickness or Physical Disability If a voter expects to be unable to go to the voting place to vote in person on Election Day because of that voter’s sickness or other physical disability, any of the following people may 5 N.C.G.S. § 163-230.2(e1) states: “If a voter is in need of assistance completing the written request form due to blindness, disability, or inability to read or write and there is not a near relative or legal guardian available to assist that voter, the voter may request some other person to give assistance, notwithstanding any other provision of this section. If another person gives assistance in completing the written request form, that person’s name and address shall be disclosed on the written request form in addition to the information listed in subsection (a) of this section.” (Emphasis added.) 4 make the request for absentee ballots in person to the board of elections of the county in which the voter is registered after 5:00 p.m. on the Tuesday before the election but not later than 5:00 p.m. on the day before the election: • The voter; • The voter’s near relative or legal guardian; or • Any other person, if the voter needs assistance due to a disability. Upon receipt of a completed request form, the county board shall personally deliver the application and ballots to the voter, near relative, legal guardian, or assistant.6 Assistance with In-Person Voting The requirements for who may assist a voter voting in person have not changed. A disabled or illiterate voter who is voting in person may receive assistance from a person of the voter’s choice, other than the voter’s employer or agent of that employer or an officer or agent of the voter’s union.7 There is no limit on how many voters an assistant may assist, if properly requested. Answers to Frequently Asked Questions Q1: May a voter who needs assistance due to a disability receive assistance from a candidate? A: It depends. A voter who needs assistance due to a disability may receive assistance from a candidate if the voter is a patient or resident of covered facility. However, the court order did not enjoin G.S. § 163-237(c), which prevents a candidate from serving as a witness otherwise. Therefore, a voter who is not a patient or resident of a covered facility is prohibited from having a candidate serve as a witness unless the candidate is their near relative. Q2: What is the definition of a disability? A: Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a disability is a physical or mental impairment that causes someone to be substantially limited in a major life activity.8 This means someone who has substantial limitations on the ability to perform everyday 6 N.C.G.S. § 163-230.1(b). 7 N.C.G.S. § 163-166.8(a)(2). 8 42 U.S.C. § 12102(1)(A). 5 things—such as seeing, hearing, walking, standing, speaking, reading, concentrating, thinking, and writing—as compared to most people in the general population.9 Most people living in nursing homes and other congregate care settings need help with at least one aspect of daily living and will generally be considered to have a disability. Federal law states that public entities are not to engage in demanding tests to determine an individual’s level of disability.10 For the purposes of seeking assistance with absentee voting, however, the disability should substantially impair an activity that pertains to the absentee voting process.11 All of the examples of everyday activities listed above could pertain to some aspect of the absentee voting process. Q3: Is advanced age a reason for assistance (for example, curbside is open to those who due to age or disability are unable to enter the enclosure)? A: No, age alone is not a reason the voter may receive assistance under the court order. The voter must need assistance due to a disability, but a disability may be age-related. See the answer to Question 2 for the definition of a disability. Q4: How do we know if someone has a disability? A: See the answer to Question 2 regarding the definition of a disability. The voter’s disability is confirmed through the attestations on the request form and the absentee envelope. These contain language requiring the assistant to attest that the voter asked for help due to the voter’s disability. It is not for the county board to inquire into the specifics of a voter’s attested-to disability that renders the voter in need of assistance. If the assistance portion of an otherwise valid request form or envelope is properly completed, the county board shall approve it. If the county board has reason to believe that non-disabled voters are receiving assistance to which they are not entitled, or that disabled voters’ wishes are not being respected, they shall forward such evidence the State Board’s Investigations Division. 9 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2)(A); 28 C.F.R. § 35.108(c)(1), (d)(1)(v). 10 28 C.F.R. § 35.101; see 28 C.F.R. §§ 35.108(a)(2)(i), (c)(2)(i)-(ii), (d)(1)(i)-(viii), . 11 The Voting Rights Act permits a voter to get assistance from a person of their choice if that voter “requires assistance to vote by reason of blindness, disability, or inability to read or write[.]” 52 U.S.C. § 10508 (emphasis added). 6 Q5: What if a disabled voter in a covered facility wishes to get assistance from and use as witnesses two staff members in the facility, but the voter’s near relative is concerned about undue influence and has contacted the county board to complain? A: A voter who needs assistance due to a disability has the right to select an assistant of their choice under the court order (and federal law). If a family member is concerned that someone has improperly influenced a voter, the county board of elections should refer them to the State Board’s Investigations Division. It is a crime to interfere with a voter when marking their ballot, or to defraud a blind or illiterate voter from marking the ballot selections of their choosing.12 Q6: Is the assistant required to respect the secrecy of the voter’s ballot? Yes. Any person who assists a voter must keep the voter’s ballot choices confidential. It is a crime for any person who has access to another person’s ballot to reveal how the person voted.13 Q7: Are there any changes to the requirement that an absentee voter have two witnesses or a notary? A: No. An absentee ballot must still be witnessed by two people or one notary public. The witnesses must be at least 18 years old. Q8: What is the definition of a covered facility? A: A “covered facility” is any facility that provides residential or in-patient healthcare in the State that is licensed or operated pursuant to Chapter 122C, Chapter 131D, or Chapter 131E of the General Statutes, including, for example, a hospital, clinic, nursing home, or adult care home; or by the federal government or an Indian tribe.14 12 N.C.G.S. §§ 163-273(a)(4) and 163-274(a)(13). 13 N.C.G.S. § 163-274(b). 14 08 NCAC 16 .0101(b). Mailing Address: P.O. Box 27255, Raleigh, NC 27611 (919) 814-0700 or (866) 522-4723 Fax: (919) 715-0135 Numbered Memo 2021-07 TO: County Boards of Elections FROM: Karen Brinson Bell, Executive Director RE: Deficiencies in Notary Portion of Absentee Application and Certificate DATE: August 31, 2021 This numbered memo explains how county boards of elections should treat technical deficiencies in the execution of the notary portion of an absentee container return envelope (officially called the absentee ballot application and certificate). It replaces Numbered Memo 2020-07. The guidance balances the goal of uniformly applying the law while seeking to not punish the voter for a notary’s inadvertent mistake or error. G.S. § 163-231(a) requires a voter to mark the absentee by-mail ballot in the presence of two witnesses or one notary public, who must sign the container return envelope as witness(es). If witnessed by a notary, the statute requires the notary public to affix their valid notarial seal to the envelope and include the phrase “Notary Public” below his or her signature. State Board of Elections staff consulted with the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State’s Electronic Notarization and Notary Enforcement Division regarding the validity of an incomplete notarization on the container return envelope. While the Secretary of State’s Office cannot adjudicate an absentee ballot, they provided useful information on how the notary statutes work in conjunction with our election statutes, including that there is a presumption of regularity in the absence of fraud on the part of the notary, or evidence of a knowing and deliberate violation of the notary statutes by the notary.1 The Secretary of State’s Office has requested that notarial errors on the absentee ballot container-return envelope be reported to them. Certain technical errors in executing the notary’s portion of the container return envelope are not considered deficiencies. Other errors are considered deficiencies that require the ballot to be spoiled and reissued in accordance with Section 2.2 of Numbered Memo 2021-03. 1 G.S. 10B-99(a) (relevant portion): “In the absence of evidence of fraud on the part of the notary, or evidence of a knowing and deliberate violation of this Article by the notary, the courts shall grant a presumption of regularity to notarial acts so that those acts may be upheld, provided there has been substantial compliance with the law.” 2 1. Technical Errors That Are Not Considered Deficiencies The following technical errors do not affect the sufficiency, validity, or enforceability of the notarial certificate itself or the underlying document and are not considered deficiencies: • Notary leaves off the name of the voter or misspells the voter’s name; • Notary does not write the expiration date of their commission; • Notary does not include the name of the county or State; • The notary seal is hard to read; • The notary does not include the date the notary witnessed the marking of the ballot; or • A combination of the above.2 2. Technical Errors That Are Considered Deficiencies The following errors in the notarial certificate are considered deficiencies that cannot be cured by certification, and require that the ballot be spoiled and reissued in accordance with Numbered Memo 2021-03: • The notary’s signature is missing. Pursuant to G.S. § 163-231(a)(5), the notary’s signature is required. • The notarial seal is missing altogether or contains missing information. G.S. § 163-231(a) requires the notary to affix a valid notarial seal to the envelope. 2 G.S. § 10B-68 (relevant portion): (a) Technical defects, errors, or omissions in a notarial certificate shall not affect the sufficiency, validity, or enforceability of the notarial certificate or the related instrument or document. […] (c) As used in this section, a technical defect includes those cured under G.S. 10B-37(f) and G.S. 10B- 67. Other technical defects include, but are not limited to, the absence of the legible appearance of the notary's name exactly as shown on the notary's commission as required in G.S. 10B-20(b), the affixation of the notary's seal near the signature of the principal or subscribing witness rather than near the notary's signature, minor typographical mistakes in the spelling of the principal's name, the failure to acknowledge the principal's name exactly as signed by including or omitting initials, or the failure to specify the principal's title or office, if any.” G.S. 10B-67: “An erroneous statement of the date that the notary's commission expires shall not affect the sufficiency, validity, or enforceability of the notarial certificate or the related record if the notary is, in fact, lawfully commissioned at the time of the notarial act. This section applies to notarial acts whenever performed.” G.S. 10B-37(f): “The failure of a notarial seal to comply with the requirements of this section shall not affect the sufficiency, validity, or enforceability of the notarial certificate, but shall constitute a violation of the notary's duties.” 3 3. Fraud Indicators If there are indications of fraud on the absentee envelope, whether they relate to the notary section or other sections of the envelope, this information should be sent to the State Board’s Investigations Division. Examples of fraud indicators include: • A notary or witness completed multiple applications containing technical errors; • The handwriting for the voter’s signature and witness’s signature appears identical; • The envelope appears to have been tampered with; and • There are stray or suspicious markings on the envelope. Mailing Address: P.O. Box 27255 Raleigh, NC 27611 (919) 814-0700 or(866) 522-4723 Fax: (919) 715-0135 Numbered Memo 2021-03 TO: County Boards of Elections FROM: Karen Brinson Bell, Executive Director RE: Absentee Container-Return Envelope Deficiencies DATE: June 11, 2021 This numbered memo replaces Numbered Memo 2020-19, which was first issued on August 21, 2020 and subsequently revised and reissued on September 22, 2020, and October 17, 2020. The State Board is required to provide a cure process for voters whose absentee container-return enve- lopes contain certain deficiencies. There were two separate court orders requiring a cure process. The Consent Judgment in NC Alliance v. State Board of Elections, No. 20-CVS-8881 (Wake Co. Sup. Ct. Oct. 2, 2020), which formed part of the basis for the revised 2020 memo, was limited to the 2020 general election. The preliminary injunction in Democracy NC v. State Board of Elec- tions, 476 F.Supp.3d 158 (M.D.N.C. Aug. 4, 2020), was not limited to a particular election. This numbered memo revises the cure process that was first established for the 2020 general election and applies to all elections going forward. County boards of elections must ensure that the votes of all eligible voters are counted using the same standards, regardless of the county in which the voter resides. This numbered memo directs the procedure county boards must use to address deficiencies in ab- sentee ballots. The purpose of this numbered memo is to ensure that a voter is provided every opportunity to correct certain deficiencies, while at the same time recognizing that processes must be manageable for county boards of elections to timely complete required tasks.1 1.No Signature Verification Verification of the voter’s identity is completed through the witness requirement. The voter’s signature on the envelope shall not be compared with the voter’s signature in their registration 1 This numbered memo is issued pursuant to the State Board of Elections’ general supervisory authority over elections as set forth in G.S. § 163-22(a) and the authority of the Executive Direc- tor in G.S. § 163-26. 2 record because this is not required by North Carolina law.2 County boards shall accept the voter’s signature on the container-return envelope if it appears to be made by the voter, meaning the sig- nature on the envelope appears to be the name of the voter and not some other person. Absent clear evidence to the contrary, the county board shall presume that the voter’s signature is that of the voter, even if the signature is illegible. A voter may sign their signature or make their mark. 2.Types of Deficiencies Trained county board staff shall review each executed container-return envelope the office re- ceives to determine if there are any deficiencies. County board staff shall, to the extent possible, regularly review container-return envelopes on each business day, to ensure that voters have every opportunity to timely correct deficiencies. Review of the container-return envelope for deficien- cies occurs after intake. The initial review is conducted by staff to expedite processing of the envelopes. Deficiencies fall into two main categories: those that can be cured with a certification and those that cannot be cured. If a deficiency cannot be cured, the ballot must be spoiled and a new ballot must be issued, as long as the new ballot is issued before Election Day. See Section 3 of this memo, Voter Notification. 2.1. Deficiencies Curable with Cure Certification (Civilian and UOCAVA) The following deficiencies can be cured by sending the voter a cure certification: •Voter did not sign the Voter Certification. •Voter signed in the wrong place. The cure certification process applies to civilian and UOCAVA voters. 2.2. Deficiencies that Require the Ballot to Be Spoiled (Civilian) The following deficiencies cannot be cured by certification, because the missing information comes from someone other than the voter: •A witness or assistant did not print name.3 However, if the witness forgot to print their name but the witness’s or assistant’s signature is legible such that the name can be deter- mined, the container-return envelope is not deficient and the ballot shall not be spoiled, absent any other deficiency. 2 See also Numbered Memo 2020-15, which explains that signature comparison is not permissi- ble for absentee request forms. 3 If the printed name is readable and on the correct line, even if it is written in cursive script, for example, it does not invalidate the container-return envelope. 3 •A witness or assistant did not print address.4 •A witness or assistant did not sign. •A witness or assistant signed on the wrong line. Where the witness or assistant signed in place of the voter’s signature, that deficiency cannot be cured and requires the ballot to be spoiled. Otherwise, if all required information from the witness or assistant is present but not on the designated line for each (for example, the witness or assistant printed their name on the address line, printed their address on the name line, and signed), the container-return envelope is not deficient and the ballot shall not be spoiled, absent any other deficiency. •Upon arrival at the county board office, the envelope is unsealed or appears to have been opened and re-sealed. •The envelope indicates the voter is requesting a replacement ballot. If a county board receives a container-return envelope with one of these deficiencies, county board staff shall spoil the ballot and reissue a ballot along with a notice explaining the county board office’s action, in accordance with this numbered memo. 2.3. Deficiencies that require board action Some deficiencies cannot be resolved by staff and require action by the county board. These in- clude situations where the deficiency is first noticed at a board meeting or if it becomes apparent during a board meeting that no ballot is in the container-return envelope, more than one ballot is in the container-return envelope, or two voters’ ballots and container-return envelopes were switched. If the county board disapproves a container-return envelope by majority vote in a board meeting, it shall proceed according to the notification process outlined in Section 3. 4 Failure to list a witness’s ZIP code does not invalidate the container-return envelope. G.S. § 163-231(a)(5). A witness’s or assistant’s address does not have to be a residential address; it may be a post office box or other mailing address. Additionally, if the address is missing a city or state, but the county board of elections can determine the correct address, the failure to list that information does not invalidate the container-return envelope. For example, if a witness lists “Raleigh 27603,” you can determine the state is NC, or if a witness lists “333 North Main Street, 27701,” you can determine that the city/state is Durham, NC. If both the city and ZIP code are missing, staff will need to determine whether the correct address can be identified. If the correct address cannot be identified, the envelope shall be considered deficient and the ballot spoiled in accordance with Section 3. See Numbered Memo 2020-29 for additional information regarding address issues. 4 3. Voter Notification 3.1. Issuance of a Cure Certification or New Ballot If there are any deficiencies with the absentee envelope, the county board of elections shall contact the voter in writing within one business day of identifying the deficiency to inform the voter there is an issue with their absentee ballot, enclosing a cure certification or new ballot, as directed by Section 2. The written notice shall also include information on how to vote in-person during the early voting period and on Election Day. The written notice shall be sent to the address to which the voter requested their ballot be sent. The outside of the envelope containing the new ballot or cure certification shall indicate that it contains official election mail, unless it is not possible due to the use of a specialized USPS or commercial carrier service envelope. If the deficiency can be cured and the voter has an email address on file, the county board shall also send the cure certification to the voter by email. If the county board sends a cure certification by email and by mail, the county board should encourage the voter to only return one of the certi- fications. If the voter did not provide an email address but did provide a phone number, the county board shall contact the voter by phone to inform the voter that the county board has mailed the voter a cure certification. If the deficiency cannot be cured, and the voter has an email address on file, the county board shall notify the voter by email that a new ballot has been issued by mail to the voter. If the voter did not provide an email address but did provide a phone number, the county board shall contact the voter by phone to inform the voter that the county board has issued a new ballot by mail. A county board shall not reissue a ballot on or after Election Day. If there is a curable deficiency, the county board shall contact voters up until the day before county canvass. 3.2. Receipt of a Cure Certification The cure certification must be received by the county board of elections by 5 p.m. the day before county canvass. The cure certification may be submitted to the county board office by fax, email, in person, or by mail or commercial carrier. If a voter appears in person at the county board office, they may also be given, and can complete, a new cure certification. There is not a postmark re- quirement for cure certifications returned by mail – the cure certification must be received by the deadline, not postmarked by the deadline. The cure certification may only be returned by the voter, the voter’s near relative or legal guardian, or a multipartisan assistance team (MAT). A cure certification returned by any other person is invalid. Voters who require assistance in mailing their ballot pursuant to 08 NCAC 18 .0101(a) may also direct that the cure certification be taken directly to the closest U.S. mail depository or mailbox by a person selected by the voter in accordance with the Rule. It is not permissible for a 5 cure certification to be submitted through a portal or form created or maintained by a third party. A cure certification may not be submitted simultaneously with the ballot. Any person who is permitted to assist a voter with their ballot may assist a voter in filling out the cure certification, but the cure certification must be signed by the voter. A wet ink signature is not required, but the signature used must be unique to the individual. A typed signature is not acceptable, even if it is cursive or italics such as is commonly seen with a program such as DocuSign. 3.3 County Board Review of a Cure Certification At each absentee board meeting, the county board of elections may consider deficient ballot return envelopes for which the cure certification has been returned. The county board shall consider together the executed absentee ballot envelope and the cure certification. If the cure certification was timely received and contains the voter’s name and signature and was returned by an authorized person, the county board of elections shall approve the absentee ballot. 4.Late Absentee Ballots Voters whose ballots are not counted due to being late shall be mailed a notice stating the reason their ballot was not counted. Late absentee ballots are not curable. If a ballot is received after county canvass, the county board is not required to notify the voter. Mailing Address: P.O. Box 27255 Raleigh, NC 27611 (919) 814-0700 or (866) 522-4723 Fax: (919) 715-0135 Numbered Memo 2020-29 TO: County Boards of Elections FROM: Karen Brinson Bell, Executive Director RE: Witness or Assistant Address Issues on the Absentee Container-Return Envelope DATE: October 4, 2020 This memo is issued to provide uniform guidance and further clarification on how to determine if the correct address can be identified if the witness’s or assistant’s address on an absentee container- return envelope is incomplete. If No Address If a witness or assistant does not print their address, the envelope is deficient. Missing ZIP Code or City As previously explained in Footnote 3 of Numbered Memo 2020-19, failure to list a witness’s ZIP code does not require a cure. G.S. § 163-231(a)(5). A witness or assistant’s address does not have to be a residential address; it may be a post office box or other mailing address. Additionally, if the address is missing a city or state, but the county board of elections can determine the correct address, the failure to list that information also does not invalidate the container-return envelope. For example, if a witness lists “Raleigh 27603” you can determine the state is NC, or if a witness lists “333 North Main Street, 27701” you can determine that the city/state is Durham, NC. If City and ZIP Code Missing If both the city and ZIP code are missing, staff will need to determine whether the correct address can be identified. If the correct address cannot be identified, the envelope is deficient. If one of the following criteria are met, you can determine the address and the envelope is not deficient: • The witness or assistant’s address is the same as the voter’s address – either because the witness or assistant wrote “same as above” or something similar on the address line or because the partial address provided matches the address of the voter – or it is on the same street as the voter’s address; • The witness’s or assistant’s name and partial address match that of a registered voter in your county in SEIMS; or 2 • The street address is a valid address in your county. You may confirm this using a county GIS website1 or office, or a similar tool. Do not use an online directions tool such as Google Maps, which does not identify whether an address is valid. If there is only a street address and none of the above criteria are met, the county board cannot determine the address and the envelope is deficient. If a P.O. box is listed but the address provided does not include a city or ZIP code, it is not possible to determine the address and the envelope is deficient. 1 https://www.lib.ncsu.edu/gis/counties.html Mailing Address: P.O. Box 27255 Raleigh, NC 27611 (919) 814-0700 or (866) 522-4723 Fax: (919) 715-0135 Numbered Memo 2020-25 TO: County Boards of Elections FROM: Karen Brinson Bell, Executive Director RE: Absentee Board Meetings DATE: September 22, 2020 (updated September 23, 2020) Legal Requirements for Absentee Meetings General Requirements Beginning every Tuesday on the fifth Tuesday before Election Day, county boards of elections must hold a public meeting at 5:00 p.m. to review and act upon absentee ballots.1 For the general election, this date is September 29, 2020. The county board of elections may change the time of these meetings (to an earlier or later time) and may provide for additional meetings. However, absentee meetings may not be held prior to Tuesday, September 29, 2020. Any meetings that are held at a different time on Tuesdays and any additional meetings must be noticed in a county newspaper at least 30 days prior to the election, October 4, 2020. You must also send notice of absentee meetings to your regular notice list, including to the county political parties. At each absentee board meeting, the board must act upon all absentee container-return envelopes received prior to that meeting and after the previous absentee meeting.2 An absentee meeting must be held if there are any absentee ballots (absentee by mail or one-stop early voting ballots) for the board to review. Absentee meetings should only be cancelled if the board has not received any absentee container-return envelopes since the last absentee meeting.3 Because of this statutory requirement and the anticipated significant increase in absentee ballots returned, it is 1 G.S. §163-230.1(f), as amended by 2020-17. 2 See G.S. § 163-230.1(e): “At its next official meeting after return of the completed container- return envelope with the voter’s ballots, the county board of elections shall determine whether the container-return envelope has been properly executed (emphasis added).” 3 See G.S. § 163-230.1(f), entitled “Required Meeting of County Board of Elections”: “During the period commencing on the fifth Tuesday before an election […] the county board of elections shall hold…(emphasis added).” 2 strongly recommended that your board schedule additional absentee board meetings and/or begin meetings earlier than 5:00 p.m. A county board may recess an absentee board meeting to a date and time certain if it is not possible to complete review of absentee ballots during the specified meeting period. You should send out the notice as soon as possible but it is not required to be sent 48 hours in advance of the reconvened meeting if that is not possible based on when the meeting was recessed from. To determine how many additional absentee meetings you need to schedule, consider how many absentee ballot requests your county has received to date, how many total requests your county received for the November 2016 election, and estimate how many requests you anticipate based on the county’s current rate of requests. For example, if your county received 6,000 requests in November 2016 and you anticipate a 50% increase for this election, that would be 9,000 requests total. If you have six absentee board meetings and everyone who requested a ballot returned one, your board would need to consider approximately 1,500 ballots per meeting. If your board sched- uled ten absentee meetings, your board would consider around 900 ballots per meeting. County Board Member Attendance Absentee board meetings require a quorum of members present. A quorum is three members.4 If at all possible, at least one member from each political party should be represented at each absentee meeting when the board is approving absentee applications. If you only have three mem- bers present, you may have one Democrat and two Republican board members, or two Democrat and one Republican board members present. Because board members must be able to view absentee envelopes in order to approve or disapprove the ballot, a quorum of board members must be physically present during each absentee board meeting. Once a quorum is physically present, remaining board members may attend the meetings via live video feed, but they must have a secure way to view the meeting and to participate. They must be able to view all materials that board members are reviewing to make decisions on the absentee envelopes. A majority of board members present at a meeting must vote for an action for it to pass. COVID-19 Precautions Board members, county board staff, and any public participants attending meetings in person must wear face masks during the meeting unless an exception applies. All participants must socially distance and wash or sanitize their hands regularly, but the board and staff should also be cautious 4 G.S. § 163-31(d): “A majority of the members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of board business.” 3 about the excessive use of hand sanitizer when handling ballots. County boards may consider purchasing additional protective equipment such as gloves and transparent tabletop shields to form cubicles around each board member during absentee meetings. CARES Act funds may be used for these purchases. See Numbered Memo 2020-14 for more information. Public Attendance Absentee board meetings are public meetings and are subject to North Carolina’s open meetings laws. The recommendation in Numbered Memo 2020-11 to conduct board meetings telephoni- cally due to the COVID-19 pandemic does not apply to absentee meetings where the board is reviewing absentee return envelopes—a primarily visual process. For absentee meetings, it is recommended that the county board locate a meeting room large enough to accommodate members of the public with appropriate social distancing. If it is not possible to procure a sufficiently large space for those who may want to attend in person, the county board of elections must broadcast the absentee board meetings via video feed using a service such as WebEx or Microsoft Teams. If the county board does not have access to appropriate audiovisual equipment or software, the board may use CARES Act funds to procure the necessary equipment or teleconferencing services. The public must be able to see and hear the proceedings without compromising the secrecy of any voter’s ballot. Staff must ensure that the public cannot view any voted ballots or other confidential information, such as voter signature, on the feed. A staff member should be assigned to monitor the video feed throughout the absentee board meeting to ensure that confidential information is not viewable by the public. County board members and staff must be particularly mindful of ballot secrecy when duplicating ballots and inserting ballots into the tabulator. The public is not permitted to disrupt the process of adjudicating the validity of absentee applica- tions by the board and is not part of the deliberation process during absentee board meetings. The decision of the county board of elections as to the validity of an envelope is final and is not subject to public comment, objection, or review.5 Confidentiality of Absentee Register G.S. § 163-228 requires county boards of elections to keep a register of absentee ballot requests that includes information about the request, the address to which the ballot should be sent, the date of the request, the voter’s precinct, and other information. In 2019, the General Assembly amended subsection (c) of that section to make the absentee request register confidential and not 5 G.S. § 163-230.1(f): “The decision of the board on the validity of an application for absentee ballots shall be final subject only to such review as may be necessary in the event of an election contest.” 4 a public record until Election Day.6 County boards of elections are not permitted to release copies of absentee request forms or identifying information that could be used to determine that a voter requested an absentee ballot. Absentee request data is no longer confidential when the ballot is returned to the county board of elections office. Therefore, names of absentee voters may be read aloud during the absentee board meetings, as the ballot has been returned to the county board office at that point. Reading from lists of voters who have requested absentee ballots or otherwise releasing the names of voters with outstanding requests is prohibited until the ballot is returned or until Election Day. It is a Class G felony for a person to “steal[], release[], or possess[] the official register of absentee requests for mail-in absentee ballots as provided in G.S. 163-228 prior to the opening of the voting place.”7 Delegation of Preparatory Steps to Staff General Authority The county board of elections has the authority to delegate to its director “so much of the admin- istrative detail of the election functions, duties, and work of the board, its officers and members, as is now, or may hereafter be vested in the board or its members as the county board of elections may see fit.”8 However, the board may not delegate to a director or other staff any of its quasi- judicial or policymaking duties and authority. Given the significant increase in absentee ballots during this election, the county board should determine which preparatory tasks staff can complete prior to absentee board meetings. A dele- gation of administrative duties by the board to the director or staff should occur by majority vote. The delegation may be by resolution or the approved motion should be documented in the minutes. It should delegate specific preparatory steps that staff can perform prior to absentee board meetings, and the delegation must provide for oversight by the board. Preparatory steps include: • Inspecting container-return envelopes for deficiencies and contacting voters as required by Numbered Memo 2020-19 (revised September 22, 2020). Please note that voters must be contacted within one business day of when staff identify the deficiency. It is not permissible to wait for the absentee board meeting to contact the voter about a deficiency. • Sorting container return envelopes into categories for the board to review and approve. • Verifying the list of ballot envelopes against the absentee pollbook. 6 See Section 1.1.(a) of Session Law 2019-239. 7 G.S. § 163-237(d6), as amended by Session Law 2019-239. 8 G.S. § 163-35(d). 5 • Performing ballot duplication. Staff Review of Envelopes At each absentee board meeting, the county board of elections reviews each absentee container- return envelope to determine whether it has been properly executed, and if so, to approve the ap- plication and ballot.9 Given the volume of absentee ballots the county board is required to review and act upon at each meeting, the board should consider ways to streamline the process. To that end, a county board may take preparatory steps to expedite review of ballot envelopes by the board. After intake, staff must inspect the absentee ballot envelope and make an initial deter- mination as to whether the envelope was properly executed. If a deficiency exists, they must follow the cure process in Numbered Memo 2020-19. Staff should also perform an initial sort of ballot envelopes into categories upon initial review and to present those recommendations to the board at each absentee board meeting. Those categories may include designations for recom- mended approval, recommended disapproval, envelopes awaiting a cure certification, and those that staff have questions about that require deliberation by the board. The delegation may also require staff to prepare a report to the board indicating the number of ballot envelopes in each category for reconciliation purposes. The board may by majority vote accept staff’s recommendation for absentee ballot envelopes that staff have reviewed and recommended for approval. The delegation must include a process for the board to spot-check the envelopes to ensure accuracy and consistency. However, the board must individually review all ballot envelopes that: (1) have been recommended for disapproval by staff, (2) have a cure certification associated with that ballot envelope, or (3) where staff need further guidance from the board as to whether the envelope was properly executed. After absentee envelopes are approved by the board, the task of stamping every envelope with “Approved” and stamping or otherwise affixing the chair’s signature or initials to the ballot enve- lopes may be delegated to staff. Alternatively, the board’s delegation may authorize the board to sign a cover sheet containing a list of envelopes that were acted upon during the meeting and indicating whether those envelopes were approved or disapproved in lieu of signing the individual envelopes. The delegation may also apply to review and approval of one-stop absentee applica- tions. It is also permissible for the board to determine that bipartisan teams of board members to pair off to review absentee ballot envelopes during each meeting if the board votes to allow this. Whether the county board delegates the initial review of absentee envelopes to staff or chooses to have a bipartisan team of board members review envelopes during the meeting, all board members 9 G.S. § 163-230.1(e) and (f). 6 present at the meeting must approve or disapprove the ballots. A decision as to whether an enve- lope is properly executed must be decided by a vote of the board as a whole and not by individual members.10 Scanning Absentee Ballots at Absentee Board Meetings It is important to understand the difference between scanning and tabulating. “Scanning” is a preparatory step that occurs when the approved absentee ballots are opened, removed from the envelope, and inserted into the tabulator. The tabulator reads the ballots but does not print the totals at that time, and no election returns are released. “Tabulating” or “counting” occurs on Election Day and is the result of the scanning that has taken place. A county board of elections may by majority vote decide to scan absentee ballots during each absentee meeting.11 Due to the significant increase in absentee ballots this election, it is strongly recommended that county boards authorize the scanning of approved ballots during absentee board meetings instead of waiting until Election Day. The scanning cannot begin until a majority of the board members and at least one board member of each political party is in attendance. If a board member of each political party is not available, the chair or other member of the executive committee of the county political party of the absent member must be present. The political party representative shall act as an official witness to the scanning and shall sign the absentee ballot abstract as an “observer.”12 Staff may enter the approved ballots into the tabulator, but each board member present is respon- sible for and must observe and supervise the opening of the envelopes and scanning of the ballots.13 It is not permissible for approved ballot envelopes to be opened, for ballots to be removed from the envelope, or for ballots to be inserted into the tabulator outside of a board meeting. These tasks cannot be delegated to staff to complete outside of a board meeting. If the board chooses to scan approved ballots during absentee meetings, it should consider ways to make the process as efficient and streamlined as possible. For example, the board could approve staff-recommended ballots first, then direct the staff to open those envelopes and enter the ballots 10 “The county board of elections shall constitute the proper official body to pass upon the validity of all applications for absentee ballots received in the county; this function shall not be performed by the chairman or any other member of the board individually.” G.S. § 163-230.1(f). 11 G.S. § 163-234(3). 12 G.S. § 163-234(9). 13 G.S. § 163-234(5). 7 into the tabulator while the board reviews the envelopes that require further consideration and those that staff have recommended be disapproved. Scanning of ballots must be performed during a board meeting, and ballots must be scanned at the same meeting during which they were approved.14 The number of approved absentee ballots must be reconciled with the number of ballots inserted into the tabulator. Reconciliation should be completed at each board meeting. If it is not possible to scan all approved ballots at that meeting, the board may recess the scanning to a time and date certain, which could be the next absentee board meeting. You should send out the notice as soon as possible but it is not required to be sent 48 hours in advance of the reconvened meeting. Ballots should be processed in groups, so that ballots from all opened ballot envelopes are processed in the same meeting. Election Day Meeting County boards are strongly encouraged to begin counting ballots at 2 p.m. rather than 5 p.m. on Election Day to avoid a delay in absentee results being released on election night.15 County boards may begin counting UOCAVA ballots beginning on 9 a.m. on Election Day. To begin counting ballots prior to 5 p.m., a county board must adopt a resolution at least two weeks prior to the election stating the hour and place of counting of absentee ballots. The resolution also may provide for an additional meeting following the day of the election and prior to the day of canvass to count absentee ballots received pursuant to G.S. 163-231(b)(ii) or (iii) as provided in subdivision (11) of G.S. § 163-234(11). A copy of the resolutions shall be published once a week for two weeks prior to the election, in a newspaper having general circulation in the county. Notice may additionally be made on a radio or television station or both, but such notice shall be in addi- tion to the newspaper and other required notice. At its meeting on Election Day, county boards must count all absentee ballots that have come in prior to 5 p.m. on the day before Election Day. The election results may not be released until after the polls close. Ballot Duplication UOCAVA ballots and ballots that have been damaged or otherwise cannot be read by the tabulator must be duplicated in order to be scanned by the machine and to avoid having to manually enter 14 G.S. § 163-234(3): “Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (2) of this section, a county board of elections may, at each meeting at which it approves absentee ballot applications pursu- ant to G.S. 163-230.1(c) and (c1), remove those ballots from their envelopes and have them read by an optical scanning machine, without printing the totals on the scanner.” (Emphasis added). 15 G.S. § 163-234(2). 8 the voter’s selections into the reporting software. County boards may adopt a policy to authorize a bipartisan team of staff members to duplicate ballots outside of an absentee board meeting. The policy must include the following: • Each bipartisan duplication team must consist of at least three staff members, with no more than two members being of the same political affiliation. It is a best practice to have at least four members, two of each political party, to ensure accuracy. • The director must supervise and train all members of the duplication team and assign the following roles: o Ballot Caller – Announces the voter’s selections listed on the original ballot to the Ballot Duplicator and Ballot Reviewer. o Ballot Duplicator – Replicates the voter’s selections from the original ballot onto the machine-readable ballot as instructed by the Ballot Caller. o Ballot Reviewer – Reviews the Ballot Caller’s readings from the original ballot and compare it to the selections recorded on the machine-readable ballot by the Ballot Duplicator to ensure accuracy. It is a best practice to have two ballot reviewers, one who will review the selection announced by the Ballot Caller and one who will review the selection made by the Ballot Duplicator. • Prior to the start of the ballot duplication process, each member of the bipartisan duplica- tion team must complete a participation log noting the date, time, and their name, role, and party affiliation. • During the ballot duplication process, the duplication team is not permitted to leave each other’s immediate presence until the process has been completed, unless authorized by the director. • All duplicated ballots must contain the following in the blank box at the top of each ballot: o A notation (for example, “DUP”) to indicate the ballot is a duplicate of the original. o The ballot number assigned to the voter. o The precinct and VTD of the voter. • Upon completion of the process, the team must do the following: o Ensure that the duplicated ballots are attached to the corresponding original ballots for the Board to verify at its next scheduled meeting. o Enter the time of completion and their signatures to the ballot duplication log. o Provide the completed duplication log and the ballots to the director. • The director must ensure that the ballots are kept in a secured container until the next ab- sentee board meeting. • The board must review each duplicated ballot at its next scheduled board meeting prior to approval of the ballots. It is a best practice to have a duplication team present at every meeting to duplicate any damaged ballots that are identified during the board meeting. Duplicating ballots at the board meeting when the ballot envelope was approved reduces the likelihood of mistakes. 9 Control of Board Meeting The county board of elections is responsible for maintaining control at its absentee board meetings. The county board must ensure that the public receives proper notice of the board meeting and is given the opportunity to attend. However, the county board should not permit public comment while absentee envelopes are being adjudicated, or while ballots are being duplicated, sorted, or tabulated. The board also should not permit questions from the public as the board approves ab- sentee envelopes. Further, G.S. 163-234 is very clear that others shall be permitted to attend the meeting during which absentee ballots are counted and observe the process, but may not interfere with the election officials in the discharge of their duties.16 It is recommended that the board chair explain the process at the beginning of the board meeting and state that public comment is not permitted during the approval and scanning of absentee bal- lots. The board may, but is not required to, designate a separate part of the meeting for public comment. At the end of each board meeting, the goal is total reconciliation of all envelopes and ballots. To do that requires careful control of every document in the room. It also requires ensuring that the board members focus on the task at hand and that the public remains in an observer rather than a participant role. Envelopes and ballots must not be allowed to be removed from assigned areas. The reconciliation process shall ensure the number of ballot envelopes in each stack is tracked, and that the number of envelopes approved at the meeting is equal the number of ballots entered into the tabulator. The county board shall record the count on the tabulator at the start and end of each absentee meeting. A sample reconciliation log that you may use for process is available here. Public Records Requests for Envelopes Some county boards may have received public records requests for absentee ballot return enve- lopes. Ballot return envelopes are public records under North Carolina's Public Records Act, with exceptions for voter signature and CIV number.17 Public records requests should not be fulfilled during a board meeting, but must be fulfilled as promptly as possible. 16 163-234(2): “Any elector of the county shall be permitted to attend the meeting and allowed to observe the counting process, provided the elector shall not in any manner interfere with the election officials in the discharge of their duties.” 17 G.S. 132-1.2(4), 163-82.10(a), 163-165.1(e). See also Numbered Memo 2016-25. 10 Providing Copies of Envelopes Prior to providing a copy of the envelope to the requestor, the voter signature and CIV number must be redacted, as the number links the envelope to a particular voter's ballot. Witness or assis- tant information may not be redacted. To redact the voter signature and CIV number, you may copy the envelope, mark through the confidential information on the copy, and then copy it again. Some counties have used a card- board or other thick paper cutout to cover the confidential information when making a copy. Digital copies may also be provided using a template redaction tool in Adobe. Viewing Envelopes Unredacted envelopes may be viewed by the public in your office, though no copy, photo, or trac- ing may be made. A county board must ensure that the requestor is monitored while reviewing the envelopes in the office to ensure the voter’s signature is not retained. Absentee ballot return envelopes contain an identifier that is linked to the ballot, so this identifier must also be redacted from public view to protect the secrecy of the ballot. Special Meeting New Hanover County Board of Elections November 17, 2022 Subject: Review of Provisional Ballot Applications Applicable Statutes and/or Rules N.C. Gen. Stat §§ 163-166.11 and 163A-182.2(4) and Numbered Memos 2018-05 and 2019-07 Summary: The Board will be provided with internal research conducted on all provisional applications, received from various precincts, to assist in determining whether the applications should be approved or denied. In accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. §163-182.2(4), the Board must count all approved provisional ballots prior to the county canvass. Following the review of provisional ballot applications by the Board, all approved ballots will be scanned and counted using the central tabulator (DS850). Document/s Included: NCSBOE Numbered Memo 2018-05 and Provisional Research Report (Provided at Board meeting) Board Action Required: Discuss as necessary and action required Item # 3c Mailing Address: P.O. Box 27255 Raleigh, NC 27611-7255 Phone: (919) 733-7173 KIM WESTBROOK STRACH Executive Director NUMBERED MEMO 2018-05 TO: County Boards of Elections FROM: Kim Westbrook Strach, Executive Director RE: Canvass Procedures and Provisional Ballots DATE: May 17, 2018 This Numbered Memo outlines administrative procedures for rendering decisions on provisional ballots and for canvassing elections. Procedures implementing election laws must be uniformly applied throughout North Carolina, and the directives in this Memo help ensure consistency in practices by county boards. The Memo amends statute citations and contains updates to directives previously contained in Numbered Memos 2016-09 and 2016-10. Administrative directives develop in response to new laws, advances in technology, and lessons learned. For many board members, this will be the first election cycle in their positions. Please distribute this Memo to your county board members. The contents of this Memo are arranged in two parts: Provisional Review (Sections 1 through 1.15) and Canvass (Sections 2 through 2.10, beginning on page 9). 1. PROVISIONAL REVIEW A provisional ballot is used to record a vote when there are questions about an individual’s eligibility to vote in the contests on the ballot. Provisional voting involves an application completed by a voter and a ballot that will count in full, in part or not at all, depending on the applicant’s eligibility to participate in the contests on the ballot. The county board of elections staff will conduct research after Election Day and board members must ultimately decide whether the applicant was properly registered and eligible to participate in the contests on their provisional ballot. All eligible votes—including provisional votes—must be counted before election results are finally certified. Federal law requires election officials to offer provisional ballots, and it is the duty of county board members to ensure all provisional applications are fully reviewed. Numbered Memo 2018-05 Page 2 In determining whether to count a provisional ballot in full, in part, or not at all, county boards should be guided by the following: 1. The applicant must be a registered voter in the county. G.S. § 163A-860 [G.S. § 163-82.1] 2. If the applicant’s name was not on the list of registered voters, he or she must have personally made a valid attempt to register to vote in the county before the registration deadline. This means either: a. A Voter Registration Application was received by the county on or before the registration deadline. G.S. § 163A-863(f) [G.S. § 163-82.6(d)] b. A Voter Registration Application was submitted at a public assistance agency or the Division of Motor Vehicles (agencies required to offer registration services under the National Voter Registration Act) on or before the voter registration deadline. G.S. § 163A-884(h) [G.S. § 163-82.20(h)] 3. Contests in which the applicant may be eligible to participate are based on their residence as of 30 days before Election Day. G.S. § 163A-841 [G.S. § 163-55] 4. Contests in which the applicant may be eligible to participate are based on his or her party when the voter rolls are closed following the voter registration deadline. GS §§ 163A-843; 163A-881(d). [G.S. §§ 163-59; 163-82.17(d)] 5. The applicant must meet the requirements for voting under GS §§ 163A-1137(a); 163A-1145 [repealed]; 163A-1146 [repealed]; and 163A-1167 [repealed]. [G.S. § 163-166.7(a)] 6. The applicant was required to execute a written affirmation before an election official at the voting place, stating that he or she is a registered voter in the jurisdiction (county) and is eligible to vote in the election. G.S. § 163A-1142(2) [G.S. § 163-166.11(2)]. An applicant may choose provisional voting for a variety of reasons. Sections 1.1 through 1.15, below, describe important resources and how best to handle the different scenarios under which provisional voting occurs. Whatever the circumstances, the county board’s task is to determine whether the applicant is eligible to participate in the contests on his or her provisional ballot. 1.1 DMV PROVISIONAL RESEARCH DMV provisional research includes in-person transactions and online transactions that occurred when the person received services. County board staff have access to a DMV Web Match report and will use it as a reference in conducting DMV research. Numbered Memo 2018-05 Page 3 If the research shows that the provisional applicant made an attempt to register to vote at the DMV (or opted for voter registration services using the online system) on or before the voter registration deadline, the provisional application must be approved as long as there is no information showing the provisional applicant was registered elsewhere after the date of the DMV activity. The vote must count even if the county board office has not yet received the signed application as a follow- up to the DMV data indicating a valid registration attempt. If the applicant’s registration activity with the DMV occurred after the voter registration deadline, and the applicant is not otherwise properly registered, the provisional application must be disapproved. In the image below, Ms. Doe voted provisionally in Davie County. Her DMV record shows DMV registration activity on 12/23/2011 and at the time, she lived in Rowan County. On 02/23/2016, Ms. Doe selected voter registration services through the DMV’s online portal. At the time of the recent transaction, she reported an address in Davie County. However, the activity was after the voter registration deadline of 2/19/2016. [Example is based on March 15, 2016 election date.] Remember, the DMV Provisional Research Report is one of the reports on the intranet (not the internet). Provisional DMV research must be conducted for all provisional applications that are denied due to one of the following reasons: • Not registered; • Moved out of County more than 30 days; or • Registered after deadline. All records checked by 4:45 p.m. each afternoon will be queued for overnight research. You will see the report by the next morning. This process runs nightly, including weekends. In non- presidential election cycles, DMV is generally the greatest single source of voter registration activity in North Carolina, and DMV research is a vital tool in the county board’s review of provisional applications. Numbered Memo 2018-05 Page 4 1.1.2 UNDERSTANDING THE DMV RESEARCH REPORT No Record of Registration County board staff should bear in mind a number of details necessary to properly understand the DMV research reports. If there is no date in the DMV Date of Registration field, there is no information that the voter made an attempt to register to vote at the DMV. Unless staff finds evidence of some other registration attempt, the provisional application would not count. In the image below, the person voted provisionally in Union County. Mr. Doe’s DMV record shows no record of DMV registration activity – there is no date listed in the field. DMV Record of Registration – Wrong County If there is a date in the DMV Date of Registration field, staff should next look at the county in which the voter resided at the time of the DMV activity. If the voter was not living in the same county as the county in which he or she cast the provisional ballot, then the provisional application should not be approved (unless there is some other record of timely voter registration in the county). In the image below, Ms. Doe voted provisionally in Union County on 3/15/2016. Her DMV record does show DMV registration activity on 8/27/2014, but the activity occurred when she was living in Mecklenburg County. Unless Union County is able to find some other timely voter registration attempt for her, Jane Doe’s provisional application would have to be disapproved. [Example is based on March 15, 2016 election date.] Numbered Memo 2018-05 Page 5 DMV Record of Registration – Same County as County of Provisional Vote Just as before, if there is a date in the DMV Date of Registration field, staff should next look at the county in which the voter was residing at the time of the DMV activity. If the voter was residing in the same county as the county in which the provisional ballot was cast, then the provisional application would be approved, provided that the date of registration was on or before the voter registration deadline for the current election and the DMV activity date is later than any other registration activity for the person in another county or state. In the image below, Mr. Doe voted provisionally in Person County on 3/15/2016. His DMV record shows DMV registration activity on 8/14/2015 and the activity occurred when he was living in Person County. If there is no additional evidence or information that Johnny Doe was domiciled or registered/voted in another jurisdiction (county or state) between 8/14/2015 and 2/14/2016* (30 days prior to the date of the election), then his provisional application should be approved. [Example is based on March 15, 2016 election date.] 1.2 MISSING INFORMATION ON PROVISIONAL APPLICATION If an election official failed to obtain all required information on the Provisional Voting Application, all reasonable attempts must be made to obtain this information. It is acceptable to contact the election official or the voter for this purpose. Due to the time constraints associated with canvassing elections, it is important to make an initial review of all provisional applications as early in the process as possible to allow sufficient time to contact voters. 1.3 REMOVED DUE TO LIST MAINTENANCE Numbered Memo 2018-05 Page 6 A provisional applicant may not appear on the voter rolls because he or she was previously removed as part of a uniform list maintenance action. If the voter has maintained continuous residence in the county, the voter remains eligible to vote. The county board should verify that there is no evidence within our election systems indicating that the voter in fact resided elsewhere (ex. move-within-state, move-out-of-county). The voter’s written or verbal affirmation regarding their continuous residency is sufficient to confirm ongoing eligibility, absent evidence to the contrary, and the county board must approve the provisional application. G.S. § 163A-877(d)(3) [G.S. § 163-82.14(d)(3)]. 1.4 UNREPORTED MOVES A registered voter who has moved within the same county but had not previously updated his or her registration may vote in the new precinct, the old precinct or a central location designated by the county board. A voter in this situation may prefer the provisional voting process. If the voter moved within the same county more than 30 days before Election Day, their proper precinct is the new precinct. A provisional application submitted in the old precinct should be approved, but the county board should only count votes cast in contests for which the voter is eligible based on his or her new residence. G.S. § 163A-878 (e) [G.S. § 163-82.15]. If the voter moved within the state fewer than 30 days before Election Day, their proper precinct is the one associated with their old address, because they are not yet qualified to vote in their new jurisdiction. A provisional application submitted in the new precinct in the same county should be approved, and the county board should count all votes cast in contests for which the voter is eligible based on his or her old residence. G.S. § 163A-841(a) [G.S. § 163-55]. A provisional application submitted in a new county in which the voter had not timely registered must be disapproved. Similarly, a provisional application submitted in a voter’s former county must be disapproved if the voter left the county more than 30 days before Election Day. G.S. § 163A-842(4) [G.S. § 163-57(4)]. Note: If an election official mistakenly required a provisional application from an inactive voter who affirmed that there was no change of address, the provisional application must be approved. Inactive voters should not be required to cast a provisional ballot if there has been no change to their address. This is not an Unreported Move. An Unreported Move is different than an Incorrect Precinct in the provisional review process. 1.5 INCORRECT PRECINCT If a voter submits a Provisional Voting Application simply because he or she presented in a precinct other than his or her proper precinct, the county board should approve the application and count all votes cast in contests for which the voter is eligible. Note that the statutory requirement to count such provisional votes derives from G.S. § 163-182.2(a)(4), which was judicially Numbered Memo 2018-05 Page 7 reinstated under NAACP v. McCrory, 831.F.3d 204, in 2016 (the current language in G.S. § 163A-1169(a)(4) does not reflect the reinstated provision linked above). Note: An Incorrect Precinct provisional review is different from an Unreported Move. 1.6 NO RECORD OF REGISTRATION If a voter submits a Provisional Ballot Application because his or her name did not appear on the voter list or the precinct official could not locate the individual’s name on the voter list, the county board of elections must research her eligibility. If it can be determined after Election Day and before the canvass that the applicant had properly registered or timely attempted to register before the voter registration deadline (see G.S. § 163A-863(f)) [G.S. § 163-82.4(f)], the county board shall approve the application and count all votes cast in contests for which the voter is eligible. In researching voter registration, the county board of elections must look at all available resources, including, but not limited to the following: • VoterView (Is the person already registered in the county? Did the election official simply fail to locate the record? Could the voter be registered in a different name?) • VoterScan (Is there a record in the Review or Incomplete Queue and the application date is on or before the voter registration deadline?) • Statewide Voter Lookup (Is the voter registered in another county and if so, what was the date of the last application in the other county?) • DMV Database (Did the person register to vote at the DMV on or before the voter registration deadline? If so, in which county was the voter residing at the time of his or her voter registration activity at the DMV?) • NVRA Agency records (Did the person register to vote at a NVRA agency on or before the voter registration deadline?) 1.7 VOTERS REMOVED DUE TO FELONY CONVICTION Voters who were previously (and properly) removed due to felony conviction are not automatically reinstated after completing their felony sentence. Persons whose citizenship rights are restored must re-register on or before the voter registration deadline. There is an exception for those who are restored to citizenship rights after the voter registration deadline; such voters may register in person and vote on Election Day under G.S. § 163A-865(f) [G.S. § 163-62.6(f)]. Unless the voter has properly re-registered to vote, the Provisional Voting Application must be disapproved. 1.8 VOTERS REMOVED DUE TO MOVING OUT OF THE COUNTY Voters who were previously (and properly) removed because the county received a cancellation notice from another jurisdiction (another county or state) are not eligible unless the voter timely registers to vote upon their return to the county. An application submitted by a provisional voter would be disapproved. Numbered Memo 2018-05 Page 8 1.9 N.C.O.A. NOTIFICATION A National Change of Address (N.C.O.A.) card returned by a voter to his or her former county of residence confirming a change of address to another county is a proper cancellation notice in the former county. If the former county transfers the notice to the new county and the new county sends a courtesy voter registration notice to the voter, the courtesy application shall not be deemed a voter registration attempt in the new county. After sending a Need Voter Registration Application incomplete notice, the new county should have archived the incomplete record. If the provisional voter did not attempt to register to vote in a new county of residence by the voter registration deadline, the provisional application must be disapproved. 1.10 RESIDENCY If no record of registration can be found for a voter and the voter provides a residential address outside of the jurisdiction of the county in which the provisional ballot was cast, the Provisional Voting Application must be disapproved and the Voter Registration Application must be denied. 1.11 DENIED REGISTRATION If a voter’s registration was properly denied pursuant to G.S. § 163A-867 [G.S. § 163-82.7], the applicant is not a registered voter and the Provisional Voting Application must be disapproved. 1.12 SAME-DAY REGISTRANT WITHOUT PROOF OF RESIDENCE During the one-stop early voting period, a person seeking to use same-day registration would be required to provide proof of voting residence. (For guidance regarding the reinstated same-day registration options and identification requirements, see the judicially reinstated provisions of G.S. § 163-82.6A and Numbered Memo 2016-15). If the registrant did not provide the proof of residence, and instead submitted a Provisional Voting Application, the applicant must produce the required proof of residence to the county board of elections office on or before the day preceding canvass. If required proof is timely provided, the county board should approve the application and count all votes cast in contests for which the voter is eligible. If proof is not timely provided, the registrant’s application must be processed after canvass, allowing the voter to participate in future elections. 1.13 INCORRECT PARTY Sometimes a voter affiliated with one political party submits a Provisional Voting Application to vote a ballot for a different political party’s primary. The county board should conduct research to confirm the voter’s affiliation. If the record confirms the voter is registered in the county and the voter has an eligible ballot for this election, the county board will open the provisional envelope and proceed to count only contests in which the voter was eligible to participate (non-partisan contests, if any). In the provisional module this would be considered a partial vote. The voter’s Numbered Memo 2018-05 Page 9 ballot shall be fully counted if the county board finds that the voter’s party affiliation was incorrectly listed in their voter record. Voter history should be given to any voter who has a contest that was counted, even if that contest contains only undervotes. If you have made any errors regarding voter history, remember that amendments to voter history can still be made after canvass. 1.14 VOTED DURING EXTENDED HOURS ON ELECTION DAY The State Board may order that one or more precincts remain open after 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. In that case, all voters arriving after 7:30 p.m. will be permitted to vote, but they must vote by provisional ballot. In these narrow cases, the provisional process is in place merely to preserve the ability of a court or other tribunal to consider whether the polls should have remained open. Under statute, provisional applications submitted solely due to extended voting hours must be approved and the votes counted if no contrary judicial order has issued by canvass. G.S. § 163A-1130 [G.S. § 163-166.01]. 1.15 ALREADY VOTED If the poll book indicates that a voter has already voted, that individual may wish to submit a Provisional Voting Application and provisional ballot. The county board must then determine whether the individual had in fact voted previously in the same election. Because no voter is entitled to vote more than once in an election, the county board must disapprove the application of any voter who has already voted. Instances of attempted double-voting should be reported to State Board investigators for further review. If the poll book inaccurately indicated that the voter had already voted, no administrative error should act to prevent a qualified voter from participating, and the county board should approve the application. Any instances of double-voting must be reported immediately to the State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement. The above scenarios provide guidance on the proper approach for county boards reviewing provisional applications and the determinations regarding the contests for which a voter may be eligible. As elections officials are keenly aware, however, multiple reasons may converge in a single instance of provisional voting (ex. a voter may try to vote in the wrong party and the wrong precinct). Regardless, county boards are encouraged to keep in mind the core objective is to research the applicant and ultimately count votes cast in races for which the voter was eligible, if any. Numbered Memo 2018-05 Page 10 2. CANVASS PROCEDURES Canvass is the board’s responsibility. Board members are ultimately responsible for ensuring the accuracy and integrity of election results; canvass is how they carry out that duty. Statute provides that canvass is more than a pro forma meeting, nor is it a rubber-stamping by the board staff’s preparatory work. Rather canvass is: [T]he entire process of determining that the votes have been counted and tabulated correctly, culminating in the authentication of the official election results. G.S. § 163A-1172(a) [G.S. § 163-182.5(a)]. In support of this process, a board of elections conducting canvass has the authority to send for papers and persons, and to examine such documents or question such persons for the purpose of making determinations as to the legality of disputed ballots. The county canvass date and time are set by statute: at 11:00 a.m. on the 10th day after every election. G.S. § 163A-1172(b) [G.S. § 163-182.5(b)]. At that meeting the board’s purpose is: [T]o complete the canvass of votes cast and to authenticate the count in every ballot item by determining that all votes have been counted and tabulated correctly. If, despite due diligence by election officials the initial counting of all the votes has not been completed by the statutory date, the county board may hold the canvass meeting at a reasonable time thereafter. The canvass meeting shall be at the county board of elections office, unless the county board, by unanimous vote of by three members, designates another site within the county. G.S. § 163A-1172(b) [G.S. § 163-182.5(b)]. Ensuring the integrity of every election is our primary responsibility as elections administrators. County board members have a critical role in this process. Ultimately, county board members will sign the certification documents that authenticate and certify that the election results are true and accurate. The below must occur as part of every election canvass: 2.1 ALL MEMBERS PRESENT All county board members must be present for canvass under G.S. § 163A-916 [G.S. § 163-89]: “All members of the board shall attend the canvass and all members shall be present for the hearing of challenges to absentee ballots.” 2.2 PUBLIC NOTICE Numbered Memo 2018-05 Page 11 County boards of elections members may take no action outside a meeting for which there has not been proper public notice. See G.S. §§ 143-318.10 and 143-318.12(b). The county board must issue public notice of any meeting involving the counting of ballots. In addition to being posted in public, the notice lists for a canvass meeting shall include all individuals and institutions that usually receive notice of meetings. It is best practice to notify leadership of any recognized political parties with a presence in the county. Any voter of the county or other member of the public must be permitted to attend the meeting and be allowed to observe the counting process, provided that no one shall interfere with the election officials as they count the ballots or are engaged in the discharge of their other duties. If media are present and filming or photographing proceedings, it is best practice to remind those present that it is not permitted to capture the image of a voted ballot under G.S. § 163A-1133(c) [G.S. § 163-166.3]. 2.3 RECONCILIATION One of the most important tasks conducted during the canvass process is reconciliation. Many levels of reconciliation take place before the final certification of results are concluded and involve comparing data against inventories of voting supplies (such as ballots and data storage cards), total ballots cast, and total provisional and absentee ballots. The process begins with early voting and continues through precinct reconciliation and until final canvass. If any issues are identified in a county board’s efforts to reconcile, those issues must be addressed immediately. If you do not address reconciliation issues initially, problems may carry forward and affect your broader canvass process. The State Board Office conducts a number of audits to assist counties in identifying issues throughout the canvassing process, but there are certain reconciliation processes that are not captured in electronic data and that county staff must vigilantly review. For example, the State Board Office does not have data that captures the physical number of provisional ballots you receive from the polling location, and it is imperative county reconciliation processes includes comparing the physical number of provisional ballots to the provisional module application within SEIMS and any poll book information. If there is a discrepancy, you must investigate, identify and document the reason for the discrepancy. Any staff reconciliation process that is conducted must include documentation that is signed by two staff members. This documentation must be maintained and available for county board members during their canvassing meetings. The two-staffer requirement emerged to combat inadvertent errors and criminal misconduct, both of which have affected county reconciliation processes in the past. Numbered Memo 2018-05 Page 12 2.4 COUNTING OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS ON ELECTION DAY County boards meet at 5 p.m. on Election Day (or earlier if a resolution is adopted at least two weeks before the date of the election) in the board office or other public location for the purpose of counting all absentee ballots, except those: • Challenged before 5 p.m. on Election Day, or • Received after 5 p.m. on the day prior to Election Day. [Note: The legislature has not updated G.S. § 163A-1315(1) [G.S. § 163-234(1)] to include proper internal citations]. The counting of absentee ballots shall be continuous until completed and the members shall not separate or leave the counting place except for unavoidable necessity. As each ballot envelope is opened, the board shall check off the name of the absentee voter. For the preservation of secrecy, the ballots shall be placed in the appropriate ballot box or container for tabulation. After all ballots have been placed in the boxes, the counting process shall begin. At each of the absentee meetings prior to Election Day, it is permissible for the Board, after approval of each absentee ballot, to cause staff to take preparatory steps and remove those ballots from their envelopes and have them read by an optical scanning machine, without printing the totals. Documents to be prepared and signed by the county board The following documents shall be prepared for the county board of elections’ review and signatures: 1. The poll book of absentee voters. As soon as the absentee ballots have been counted on Election Day, the board members and assistants employed to count the absentee ballots shall each sign the poll book of absentee voters, with the signature to be affixed immediately beneath the last absentee voter's name. The county board of elections shall be responsible for the safekeeping of the poll book of absentee voters. 2. The results tapes of electronic absentee ballot count. When absentee ballots are counted electronically, the members of the board present shall sign the results tape, which shall be retained for purposes of review and examination at the official county canvass proceeding. 3. The absentee abstract. The board members shall cause the results of the tally to be entered on the absentee abstract. The abstract shall be signed by the members of the board in attendance and shall then be scanned and uploaded electronically to the State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement. Numbered Memo 2018-05 Page 13 4. The chain of custody report(s). Voted ballots shall be properly secured and a documented chain of custody shall be maintained for the ballots, tapes, poll book and other documentation/media related to tabulation. 2.5 COUNTING OF ADDITIONAL ABSENTEE BALLOTS RETURNED BY MAIL (G.S. §§ 163A- 1311 [G.S. § 163-232] and 163A-1315(11)) [G.S. § 163-234] County boards of election must have an additional meeting following the day of the election and prior to the date of the county canvass to consider absentee ballots received by mail after 5 p.m. on the day prior to Election Day that are deemed timely. Civilian absentee ballots received by mail after Election Day are timely if they are postmarked on or before Election Day and received by 5 p.m. on the third day following Election Day. Military and overseas ballots that are received by mail after Election Day are timely if they are received no later than 5 p.m. on the last business day prior to the county canvass. These additional absentee ballots shall be counted on the day of the county canvass. At least one board member of each political party shall be present for the counting of absentee ballots. This fact shall be publicly declared and entered in the official minutes of the absentee board meeting. The county may use assistants in the counting of the official ballots, but the county board members are responsible for observing and supervising the opening and tallying of the ballots. Documents to be prepared and signed by the Board The following documents shall be prepared for the county board of elections’ review and signatures: 1. The results tape for electronically counted absentee ballots. When absentee ballots are counted electronically, the members of the board present at the canvass meeting shall sign the results tape, which shall be retained for purposes of review and examination at the official county canvass proceeding, along with the Election Day absentee results tape. 2. The civilian and military-overseas certified lists of executed absentee ballots returned on or after Election Day. The county board of elections staff shall prepare these lists in triplicate and the board shall sign all three originals of each list. One signed original of each list shall be electronically uploaded to the State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement. 3. The supplemental absentee abstract. The county board members shall cause the results of the tally to be entered on the supplemental absentee abstract. The abstract shall be signed by the members of the board in attendance and the original Election Numbered Memo 2018-05 Page 14 Day absentee abstract and the supplemental absentee abstract shall be mailed immediately to the State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement. 4. The poll book of absentee voters. The board shall sign the final poll book of absentee voters at this time. 5. The chain of custody report(s). Voted ballots shall be properly secured and a documented chain of custody shall be maintained for the ballots, tapes, poll book and other documentation/media related to tabulation. 2.6 HEARING ON ABSENTEE BALLOT CHALLENGES (G.S. § 163A-916) [G.S. § 163-89] The following must be heard by the county board of elections on the day of the county canvass: • Any challenge to an absentee ballot that was properly brought on the day of any primary or election; and • Any challenge to an absentee ballot that was timely mailed by Election Day and received by the county board of elections after Election Day, and was properly challenged no later than the time set by statute. Notice must be provided to all challenged voters. All members of the board of elections shall attend the canvass and must be present for the hearing of the challenges to an absentee ballot under G.S. § 163A-916 [G.S. § 163-89]. Note: Challenges to absentee ballots may not be heard any sooner than the day and time set for the county canvass. 1.7 COUNTING OF WRITE-IN VOTES (G.S. § 163A-1169(a)(2)) [G.S. § 163-182.2(a)(2)] If write-in votes are not counted at the precinct after the close of polls, any write-in votes cast at the county board of elections office shall be conducted in the presence or under the supervision of the bipartisan county board. G.S. § 163A-1169(a)(2) [G.S. § 163-182.2(a)(4)]. Write-in votes shall be recorded on a write-in tally sheet, which shall be signed by the members of the county board of elections. 1.8 COUNTING PROVISIONAL BALLOTS (G.S. § 163A-1169(a)(4)) [G.S. § 163-182.2(a)(4)] Numbered Memo 2018-05 Page 15 The county board of elections shall meet before canvass and make a determination as to each provisional official ballot. A meeting before canvass may include a meeting on the day of canvass, but such a meeting must occur before 11 a.m. Under no circumstances shall any county board staff open a provisional envelope or tabulate results before the county board members have made their official determination on the provisional ballot application. In making its determination, the county board may rely on the provisional research conducted by county board staff, but county board members may make additional inquiries of staff as they see fit. Please refer to Section 1 of this Numbered Memo regarding the proper review processes necessary to make decisions on Provisional Voting Applications and the counting of votes in eligible contests. When conducting provisional research, county board of elections staff shall at a minimum follow the instructions in Section 1 of this Memo and review the following resources: • the voter’s provisional voting application • the county’s voter registration database (active, inactive, removed and denied voters) • pending voter registration applications, including applications in the incomplete or review queue • the non-public access to statewide voter registration information (intranet site) • DMV provisional research results Every effort must be made by county boards of elections to correct administrative errors well before the board meets to consider and count the provisional official ballots. If a voter was properly registered to vote in the election by the county board, no mistake of an election official shall serve to prevent the counting of the vote on any ballot item for which the voter was eligible by registration and qualified by residency to vote. A county board of elections shall never reject a voter’s provisional application due solely to an administrative error by an election official. Staff must review provisional voting applications soon after Election Day to determine if more information is needed from a provisional voter to assist the county board of elections in making the proper determination as to whether to count a person’s ballot. Such administrative efforts may include, for example, following up with a voter in order to: • Have the voter sign the provisional voting application, if it was not signed • Have a voter who claims to have registered at the NC DMV, but for whom no record of registration was found, provide his or her driver license number if it was not provided on the provisional voting application. If, in the course of reviewing provisional applications, a staff member suspects that improper instructions were given by a precinct official or finds that information is missing on the application, Numbered Memo 2018-05 Page 16 he or she shall make every effort to ensure that the voter is given the opportunity to provide the required information. It is essential that the process for handling provisional ballots is followed. County boards should be making decisions as to the disposition of provisional ballots based on information presented from staff research, rather than from unofficial or unverifiable sources of information. Again, no provisional envelopes shall be opened and tabulated prior to the county board voting on the disposition of a provisional ballot. The opening and tabulation of approved ballots shall be done in the presence and under the supervision of board members. [Note: Before a provisional ballot is separated from its envelope, county board staff shall ensure that the election official wrote the correct PCT/VTD number on the ballot; if not, the correct PCT/VTD shall be written on the ballot before the ballot is tabulated, and thus becomes no longer identifiable with a voter.] Partial-Count Procedures With respect to ballots that must be partially counted, the county board of elections shall have a process to count the contests for which the voter is eligible. The county board of elections shall select one of the following processes to count eligible contests: • Ballot duplication – Either the county board members or a bipartisan team shall assemble to duplicate the original provisional official ballot. Until certain auditing improvements are made to SEIMS and in light of the new 30-day precinct sort, it is within the county board’s discretion to duplicate the partially counted ballots either onto a ballot of the same style as that cast by the provisional voter or on a ballot of the proper style assigned to the voter. The team shall mark the blank ballot for all contests which the voter is eligible to vote. The board shall annotate the blank ballot by some indication or marking that the ballot is a duplicate of the original ballot, minus the contests in which the voter was ineligible to participate. When using this method, one team member shall call out the voter’s ballot choice and the other team member shall mark the blank ballot. Ideally, a third person will then review and compare the original ballot to the duplicated ballot, or, in the absence of a third person, the two-person team can switch ballots and roles and permit the caller to review the ballot marked by the first person, and vice versa. The duplicated ballot shall then be tabulated along with fully counted provisional official ballots. • Hand-tally – Either the county board of elections or a bipartisan team of election officials shall assemble to hand-tally the votes cast for all eligible contests and ballot choices. When using this method, one team member shall call out the voter’s ballot choice and the other team member shall mark a tally sheet. A third person shall observe the team’s actions of calling and marking the tally sheet. Numbered Memo 2018-05 Page 17 Once the county board of elections has made a final determination as to the provisional official ballots for the election, the county board of elections staff shall prepare a final disposition report for the board of elections members to review and sign. Once signed, the ballots that are to be counted (fully or partially approved) shall be tabulated. Regardless of whether the ballots are electronically tabulated with the use of certified and tested voting equipment, or are instead hand-tallied, the results of the tabulation shall be signed by the county board of elections members or the bipartisan team of election officials who participated in the count. The final disposition report and the counted official provisional ballots shall be sealed together and maintained as part of the official documentation of the election. The signed results tapes shall be retained for purposes of review and examination at the official county canvass proceeding. Documents to be prepared and signed by the Board The following documents shall be prepared for the county board of elections’ review and signatures: 1. The report of “provisional voters by precinct voted.” 2. The results tapes. When provisional ballots are counted electronically, the results tape must be signed by the members of the board present at the canvass meeting. Board members shall sign the tape before the tabulation begins (the “zero tape”) and then again after the tabulation is complete. These signed results tapes shall be retained for purposes of review and examination at the official county canvass proceeding. 3. Chain of custody report(s). Voted ballots shall be properly secured and a documented chain of custody must be maintained for the ballots, tapes, poll book and other documentation/media related to tabulation. 2.9 FINAL CANVASS PROCEEDINGS To complete the canvass of votes cast and to authenticate the count in every ballot item in the county by determining that the votes have been counted and tabulated correctly, the county board of elections must: • examine the returns from all Election Day precincts • examine the returns from absentee official ballots • examine the sample hand-to-eye paper ballot counts • examine the returns from provisional official ballots After examining the returns, the board shall conduct the canvass and sign the official abstract of results. Numbered Memo 2018-05 Page 18 2.10 UNITY SOFTWARE The process of reading electronic media (e.g. PCMCIA cards) into the Unity tabulation or entering manual results into SEIMS Election Reporting software shall include the following security measures: • At no time shall results be read or manually entered into a system without county board supervision. • If any manual entries are executed, paper documentation that has been signed by appropriate election officials must match those edits. The documentation shall be maintained and secured as part of the tabulation documentation. As always, do not enter manual entries directly into Unity. Any manual entries must be done in Election Reporting. Special Meeting New Hanover County Board of Elections November 17, 2022 Subject: General Discussion Summary: This is an opportunity for discussion on other elections-related matters not included in the meeting agenda. Board Action Required: Discuss as necessary Item # 4