Author: Kim Strach, Executive Director
Session Law 2013-381, passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Governor McCrory this year, makes several changes to the conduct of one-stop early voting starting in 2014. The three most important changes:
- There will no longer be in-person registration during one-stop voting.
- The early voting period, which previously began on the third Thursday before the day of the primary or election, will begin on the second Thursday before the primary or election (a reduction of one week).
- For elections in even-numbered years, counties are required to match the cumulative total number of scheduled hours of one-stop early voting (the total hours of operation, combined from each one-stop site) offered for the same type of election from four years prior.
This memorandum and attachments provide information about the third requirement, specifically for the 2014 statewide primary to be held in May 2014. For the May 2014 statewide primary, the new law requires that counties provide the same cumulative total number of early voting hours that were offered in each county for the May 2010 statewide primary.
Two other law changes will also affect the scheduling of one-stop sites:
- On the final Saturday of the early voting period, previous law required at least the county board of elections office (or site in lieu of the county board of elections office) to be open until at least 1 p.m., but also allowed any site to be open until as late as 5 p.m. The new law does not allow any site to remain open later than 1 p.m. on that final Saturday of early voting.
- If a county opens one-stop sites in addition to the county board of elections office, all additional sites in the county must be open for the same days and hours.
Please keep in mind existing law regarding the staffing of one-stop sites. The individuals staffing the sites must be members or full-time employees of the county board of elections or employees of the county board of elections that have been given training equivalent to that given a full-time employee. This means you can hire temporary employees but they must have the same training a full-time employee would have with respect to these duties.
One-Stop Implementation Plans
G.S. § 163-227.2(g) requires a county to submit a one-stop implementation plan in three situations: (1) For the county board of elections office to be open additional hours beyond regular business hours on weekdays; (2) for one-stop voting to be conducted at a nearby alternative site in lieu of the county board of elections office; or (3) for additional one-stop voting sites.
Because the new law requires counties in the 2014 primary to match the cumulative total number of hours offered in each county for the 2010 primary, this will have the effect of requiring all counties to submit a one-stop implementation plan to open additional sites or hours. Even counties that only had the county board of elections office open for the minimum hours in 2010 will need to make up the lost week’s worth of hours, either through an additional site or longer hours.
Attached is this office’s record of one-stop sites open for the 2010 primary. If your county’s records show any difference in the schedule reflected in this document, please contact George McCue at george.mccue@ncsbe.gov with the State Board of Elections staff immediately.
Also attached is a cumulative hours calculation based on the schedules in the first attachment. Please review this document as well. The “Total Hours” column (Column T) shows the number of hours from the 2010 primary that each county will be required to match for the 2014 primary.
One-stop implementation plans will be due by Monday, March 14, 2014. The State Board of Elections staff is developing a more automated format to submit implementation plans that will streamline the process. More details on this process will be provided in a future Numbered Memo and other communications. This Numbered Memo is intended to provide advance information about the law’s requirements, because we appreciate that this will be a major change.
Counties should begin making arrangements for 2014 primary one-stop sites now. Please remember the basic legal requirements:
- The one-stop implementation plan must be approved unanimously by the county board. Please communicate this information to your Board members prior to these plans being put before the county board.
- Each site must provide adequate security for voting equipment, ballots, and any materials that remain in the building when the building/area is not open for one-stop voting.
- Each site must be accessible.
Covering the New Law’s Hours-Matching Requirement
The new law’s hours-matching requirement will have the practical effect of requiring many counties to open an additional one-stop site or sites beyond what was offered in the May 2010 primary. It should be noted that counties could also generate extra hours by opening their sites earlier or closing them later (all sites must close at 1 p.m. on the final Saturday).
For counties that are seeking new buildings to use as early voting sites, a section of existing law provides two important considerations:1
- County boards of elections may use non-public buildings as one-stop sites if “other equally suitable sites were not available and the use of the sites chosen will not unfairly advantage or disadvantage geographic, demographic, or partisan interests of that county.”
- The county board of elections may make a binding request to conduct one-stop voting in any public, tax-supported building if the request is made at least 90 days before the start of one-stop voting (for the May 2014 primary, the last day to make this request to the government entity in control of the building would be Friday, Jan. 24, 2014).
1 G.S. § 163-227.2(g1):
The State Board of Elections shall not approve, either in a Plan approved unanimously by a county board of elections or in an alternative Plan proposed by a member or members of that board, a one-stop site in a building that the county board of elections is not entitled under G.S. 163-129 to demand and use as an election-day voting place, unless the State Board of Elections finds that other equally suitable sites were not available and that the use of the sites chosen will not unfairly advantage or disadvantage geographic, demographic, or partisan interests of that county. In providing the site or sites for one-stop absentee voting under this section, the county board of elections shall make a request to the State, county, city, local school board, or other entity in control of the building that is supported or maintained, in whole or in part, by or through tax revenues at least 90 days prior to the start of one-stop absentee voting under this section. The request shall clearly identify the building, or any specific portion thereof, requested the dates and times for which that building or specific portion thereof is requested and the requirement of an area for election related activity. If the State, local governing board, or other entity in control of the building does not respond to the request within 20 days, the building or specific portion thereof may be used for one-stop absentee voting as stated in the request. If the State, local governing board, or other entity in control of the building or specific portion thereof responds negatively to the request within 20 days, that entity and the county board of elections shall, in good faith, work to identify a building or specific portion thereof in which to conduct one-stop absentee voting under this section. If no building or specific portion thereof has been agreed upon within 45 days from the date the county board of elections received a response to the request, the matter shall be resolved by the State Board of Elections.
Requesting a Reduction in the Number of Required Hours
A new law, G.S. § 163-227.2(g3), allows a county board of elections to make a request, upon a unanimous vote of all members, to reduce the number of hours required.
A request for a reduction in the number of required hours must be supported by data. For example, a county could show that voter traffic is not high enough to justify an exact match of the cumulative one-stop hours offered in 2010, and propose a lower number of hours to be scheduled for the May 2014 primary that would meet the foreseeable voter traffic for the primary.
Along with the more automated implementation plan format, staff of the State Board of Elections is developing a form to help streamline this request process for counties that are interested. This will also be addressed in a future numbered memo.
More Information To Come
As has been mentioned, this numbered memo is intended to provide information several months in advance about major changes to one-stop voting in 2014. More details will be forthcoming.
Finally, included is the text of the relevant provisions of Session Law 2013-381.
[Download the PDF below for text of the relevant provisions of Session Law 2013-381.]