Author: Kim Strach, Executive Director
This numbered memo reviews the scheduling of one-stop early voting for elections we’re preparing for later this year, and includes important information about hours-matching for the 2016 general election.
June 7, 2016 Primary
On March 10, the State Board met and adopted the following temporary order, making clear that hours matching requirements will not apply to the June 7, 2016 primary:
Temporary Order 2016-02: Regarding One-Stop Early Voting Matching Hours
The so-called “hours-matching requirement” imposed under G.S. § 163-227.2(g2)(2) is suspended for the upcoming June primary election; and State Board of Elections staff will issue a letter of explanation reminding county directors of elections that one-stop early voting must be offered as required by statute at the board of elections office and/or alternative sites during the one-stop early voting period.
The temporary order makes clear that counties are not required to offer the same number of hours as were offered in previous elections. However, counties are still required to offer one-stop voting for the June 7 primary. The minimum obligation is that one-stop voting is offered at the county board of elections office from Thursday, May 26 through Friday, June 3 during the office’s business hours, and also until 1 p.m. Saturday, June 4. Because Monday, May 30 is a state holiday (Memorial Day), counties are not required to offer one-stop voting that day.
Of course, every county board of elections has the option to extend one-stop voting in the following ways, which requires a unanimous vote and submission of a one-stop implementation plan:
- Offer additional hours beyond regular business hours or offer hours during the first weekend.
- Open additional sites to the county board of elections office.
- Open a different site in lieu of the county board of elections office (holding early voting in a different room in the same building as the county board of elections office does not require state approval).
The option for a county board member to petition the State Board of Elections to adopt a nonunanimous one-stop implementation plan pursuant to G.S. § 163-227.2(g) is also available.
We are operating on a very tight schedule for the June 7 primary. If your county will be submitting a one-stop implementation plan for the June 7 primary, you must send that plan by Friday, April 8 to allow time for state approval. (Ballot coding is already underway and information on additional sites will be needed in order to complete the ballot coding process.) If a county board will be unable to meet the April 8 deadline, please notify me immediately. Once again, plan submissions are only required for county BOEs that wish to extend hours and/or add additional sites.
Plan materials should be submitted through Filezilla according to instructions in the e-mail accompanying this numbered memo. Counties that are submitting a nonunanimous implementation plan should also email those documents to onestop@ncsbe.gov.
If your county board of elections is only offering the minimum amount of one-stop voting (which makes an implementation plan unnecessary) please go ahead and enter the schedule into One-Stop System Manager according to the usual instructions (included in the accompanying e-mail). Please do so by Friday, April 1. If you do submit an implementation plan, please wait to perform this step until the plan has been approved.
November 8, 2016 General Election
To comply with hours-matching requirements, all counties will submit one-stop implementation plans for the Nov. 8, 2016 general election. Implementation plans for the 2016 general election must be electronically submitted to our office by Friday, July 29, 2016. Plan materials should be submitted through Filezilla according to instructions in the e-mail accompanying this numbered memo. If your county is submitting a non-unanimous implementation plan or an hours reduction request, please also email those documents to onestop@ncsbe.gov. Please wait to enter site and schedule information into One-Stop System Manager until the implementation plan has been approved by this office. Again, instructions are included in the accompanying e-mail.
Important Information on One-Stop Hours Requirements for the 2016 General Election
Counties are required to offer the same number of cumulative hours of one-stop voting that were offered for the 2012 General Election. Counties should make whatever preparations are necessary to ensure statutory hours requirements are met. These preparations must include the securing of funds and resources and the reservation of locations.
The required hours for each county is contained in the attachment.
In previous primaries and elections, some counties have successfully requested that that State Board allow a lower number of hours under G.S. § 163-227.2(g3). That option under the statute, which requires the request to be made by a unanimous county board of elections, can only be granted by a unanimous State Board of Elections. One State Board member has indicated that the member will not vote in favor of any hours reduction requests for the 2016 general election, with only the very limited exception of exigent circumstances. This member also made clear that a lack of budget of resources would not be considered a valid reason to allow a reduction. Thus, all county boards are on notice not to expect hours reductions to be granted for the November election unless unforeseen circumstances arise. All county boards should take steps now to secure the resources they need to meet this statutory mandate. The topic of securing resources for the 2016 general election is explored further in *Urgent* Budget Requests: Numbered Memo 2016-06.
Given the expressed wishes of a member of our State Board that only unforeseen circumstances will justify hours reduction requests, we expect very few of these requests. In any case, no such requests will be accepted after Friday, July 1, 2016.
[Download the PDF below to view the total hours of one-stop early voting offered by each county during the 2012 general election.]