Author: Kim Strach, Executive Director
Dear Directors,
This numbered memo covers planning how your county will conduct one-stop absentee voting for the 2015 municipal elections. Counties that wish to expand hours, provide additional one-stop voting sites (or open a site “in lieu of” the county board of elections office in a different building) must submit an implementation plan to SBE for approval. By way of review, one-stop voting must be available at the county board of elections office from the second Thursday before each election, open weekdays through the Friday before the election, and also on the last Saturday before the election until 1 p.m. G.S. § 163-227.2(b). (Note: This numbered memo addresses one-stop voting for 2015 municipal elections only. Guidance as to hours-matching requirements in the event of a statewide bond referendum this November will be provided separately, if necessary).
State law requires a county board to submit an implementation plan to the State Board, if the county board decides to expand the number of sites and/or hours, or opens a nearby site in lieu of the county board of elections office. G.S. § 163-227.2(g). Please remember that the determination of the schedule of one-stop voting for municipal elections is a decision for the county board of elections, although the county board may receive input from the municipality or municipalities having the election.
The implementation plan must be approved by a unanimous vote of all county board members (the new county board that will be in place at the time of the election). The implementation plan must be either signed by all members of the county board, or attached to a resolution that is signed by all members of the county board. If unanimity cannot be reached on an implementation plan, one or more members of a county board may petition the State Board to adopt an implementation plan.
Implementation Plan Form
New for 2015: The implementation plan form will be in a slightly different format than the electronic form provided in 2014. Now, the main implementation plan form will include a cover page, a page for the county board of elections site and its schedule, and the schedule for all additional sites. However, the form to enter in the address and site-specific information for each additional site will be in a separate file. Use the additional site form for each of your additional sites.
Please keep the implementation plan and additional site in their native, save-able electronic PDF format (do not return a scanned copy). Note that the main form does not include a place for board member signatures. Instead, please include a resolution signed by all three board members along with the completed form. You may use your county board’s resolution in any format, or you may use our sample signature sheet/resolution form.
Submit both:
- The implementation plan form, completed but in its original format
- As many versions of the additional site form as there are additional sites schedule, and
- The resolution or signature page to the State Board of Elections office via FTP (link and technical details provided in the e-mail through which you received this numbered memo.)
Remember that if any sites have not been used as voting sites before an accessibility survey should also be submitted to provide documentation that the property has been inspected to ensure it will accessible as a voting site.
Please submit implementation plans to the SBE office of Elections by Friday, July 31 (for any implementation plans for elections conducted in September, October or November 2015). If an implementation plan is not finalized by that date, or if the county will not be submitting an implementation plan because neither hours nor the number of sites will be extended, please send the SBE office a status update communicating this to the one-stop e-mail included at the bottom of this numbered memo.
Counties that will be conducting one-stop voting for September or October primaries/elections are encouraged to submit plans as early as practicable. Note that there is a very short time period between this due date and when county boards are appointed for a new 2-year term and conduct their first meeting on July 21. N.C.G.S. § 163-22. We recommend that one-stop voting is covered in that first meeting.
After you have received the implementation plan back and designated as approved by this office, please enter the sites and hours in One-Stop System Manager, the same process as in the past. Please be sure to double check your work to make sure the schedule entered into One-Stop System Manager exactly matches the schedule in the implementation plan that was approved. Details on how to access the Intranet report to see the hours that were entered into One-Stop System Manager are available in the e-mail accompanying this numbered memo.
Nonunanimous Plans
If the county board of elections is not unanimous in setting the schedule for an implementation plan, one or more county board members may petition the State Board of Elections to set a one-stop schedule. Petitions and materials can be e-mailed directly to George McCue at george.mccue@ncsbe.gov.
Possible Statewide Bond Referendum
As has been communicated previously, there exists the possibility that a bond referendum will create a statewide election. A statewide election this November could affect the number of one-stop sites that are open across the state, particularly in areas that are not scheduled to hold an election this year. If a statewide bond referendum becomes reality, this office will provide further instruction.
Questions or need to communicate? Please e-mail our new dedicated one-stop e-mail address, onestop@ncsbe.gov. As always, thank you for all that you do.
↓ One-Stop Implementation Plans, 2015 Municipal Elections: Numbered Memo 2015-02 (PDF)