Author: Karen Brinson Bell, Executive Director
Answers to FAQs for Multipartisan Assistance Teams (MAT)
Are counties required to have a MAT?
Yes, counties are required to have a MAT. The law requires each county board of elections to assemble and provide training to a MAT to respond to requests for voter assistance for any primary, general election, referendum, or special election. The team must be made available in each county to assist patients and residents in every covered facility in that county.1 County boards may use CARES funds to recruit and promote the use of Multipartisan assistance teams.
Our county is experiencing a shortage of MAT members. Are we required to follow the same steps/processes to appoint these individuals as we do at the start of the appointment term as with Chief Judges and Judges, or can they just be selected?
G.S. § 163-226.3(c), as amended by Section 2.5(a) of Session Law 2020-17, requires that MATs have at least one Republican and one Democratic member, as recommended by the members of that political party serving on the county board of elections. This change applies to MAT members appointed on or after June 12, 2020.
If the team consists of more than two members, voters who are unaffiliated or affiliated with other political parties recognized by the State may be team members. If a county board of elections finds an insufficient number of voters available to meet this requirement, the county board of elections, upon a unanimous vote of all of its sworn members, may appoint an unaffiliated team member to serve instead of a team member representing one of the two political parties having the highest number of affiliated voters in the State. A MAT member’s certification is good for two years from the date the member is certified. However, a MAT member does not have to serve an entire two-year term and may resign at any time. Appointments are made on a rolling basis as needed.
We have a number of temporary employees working in our office at this time. If we do not have any appointed MAT members available to conduct a MAT visit for a facility, are we permitted to send members of our staff and/or a temporary employee to conduct this visit? Would these temporary employees have to go through the same appointment process as our other MAT members, or can they serve as a representative of our office?
Employees of the office, including temporary employees, are not prohibited from providing assistance to voters in facilities.2 Employees who will be assisting voters in facilities must be certified and trained as MAT members and must adhere to the political affiliation requirements for MAT members.
Can the county board of elections appoint MAT members who do not reside in the county?
Statute requires that MAT members be registered voters of the county, so it is not permissible for someone to serve as a MAT member in in a county where they are not registered to vote.3 However, the MAT must assist patients or residents physically located in the MAT’s county, regardless of the voter’s county of registration.4
Our MAT members are also one-stop workers, so we planned to have MATs operate until the start of one-stop early voting on Oct. 15. Is this permissible?
No. Counties are required to provide assistance to residents in facilities upon request. It is not permissible to cease MAT operations at the start of one-stop early voting. If your county is having trouble recruiting MAT members as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, it is permissible to use CARES Act funding to employ MATs as part of the county board of elections staff.
The new law provides that MATs can assist any voter in requesting or voting an absentee ballot, not just patients and residents in facilities. What are the requirements for doing so?
Because MATs are required to assist residents and patients in covered facilities, visits to those facilities should take priority. If your county has the time and resources to deploy MATs to other congregated living facilities or to individual voters, those voters must first request a visit. Both the voter and MAT must adhere to the CDC’s guidelines for preventing the spread of COVID19.
If the policy at a facility is that no visitors are allowed, can MATs still enter? Is there any ability to require facilities to allows MATs?
Neither the State Board nor county boards of elections have the legal authority to require MATs be allowed to enter a facility that restricts visitors. If your office receives a request for a MAT visit from a facility that restricts visitors at this time, our recommendation is to share with the facility the MAT guidance and ask if the facility would be open to an exception for MAT visits with proper precautions as outlined in the guidance, including outdoor, socially distanced visits (when appropriate). Some counties have also instituted creative solutions such as separating MAT members and voters with a plexiglass shield so that the voter can still hear and see the MAT member but there is an added layer of protection.
Will the State Board of Elections be providing PPE specifically for MAT visits, and when can we expect this PPE to arrive?
County boards may use their PPE supplied by Emergency Management for MAT visits. Please contact Amy Strange if your supply is not sufficient.
If a facility requires a recent COVID test, what should a county board do?
Provide a copy of the DHHS guidance. You can explain the procedures MAT members will take, in accordance with the MAT Visit Guidance, and request an exception can be made for MAT visits with proper precautions as outlined in the guidance, including outdoor, socially distanced visits (when appropriate). County boards cannot require MAT members to take a COVID test. The published MAT guidance sets out DHHS recommendations for screening MAT members prior to entry into a facility.
What if there is a request for MATs at a facility that has an active outbreak? Is a MAT required to assist a voter diagnosed with COVID? Similarly, if there are known cases within a facility but COVID residents are isolated, is a MAT required to enter the facility to assist the non-COVID voters?
Administrative rule requires every county board of elections to assemble and provide training to a MAT to respond to requests for assistance from voters in covered facilities. MAT visits should be completed in compliance with published MAT guidance and COVID-19 positive residents should be appropriately isolated by the facility. However, a county board of elections cannot require a MAT member to enter a facility if the member does not feel safe doing so.
Will the PPE listed in the guidance from DHHS protect MAT members from contracting COVID?
We do not have the medical N95 masks and will not have completed a “fit test” as recommended for those type masks. As outlined in the MAT Visit Guidance, the below order of operations for MAT visits is recommended and is considered sufficient protection, with strong recommendations to limit close contact (within six feet for at least 15 minutes) as much as possible. A surgical mask is strongly encouraged for indoor visits:
- An outdoor setting, with six-foot social distancing maintained and with MAT members and resident or patient wearing a face mask or cloth face covering.
- An outdoor setting, without six-foot social distancing and with MAT members and resident or patient wearing a face mask or cloth face covering. This method might be needed for a resident or patient who requires close contact (for instance, for marking a ballot).
- An indoor setting, with six-foot social distancing maintained and with MAT members wearing PPE consistent with the facility’s care requirements, including: a surgical mask, face shield, and nitrile gloves. Resident or patient wears a face mask or cloth face covering.
- An indoor setting, without six-foot social distancing and with MAT members wearing PPE consistent with the facility’s care requirements, including: a surgical mask, face shield, and nitrile gloves. Resident or patient wears a face mask or cloth face covering. This method might be needed for a resident or patient who requires close contact (for instance, for marking a ballot).
The facility must properly isolate known COVID-positive patients so if you receive a request for assistance from a patient who is COVID-positive, a MAT would not be able to assist that voter until the person has been released from isolation.
If a COVID case is identified at the facility after a MAT visit, will the county board of elections be notified?
If a case is diagnosed in a facility after a visit by the MAT, the local health department will determine if MAT members need to be contacted to verify whether they were exposed at a time that might lead to consider recommending quarantine. This is one reason why it is important for the MAT to check in when arriving at the facility.
If MAT members come back into the office and assist with administrative processes, does that create possible exposure to those in the office?
This exposure risk is consistent with MAT members and other staff being potentially exposed in non-facility (community) settings. In the office setting and in community settings, exposure risk is reduced if MAT members and other staff are practicing the 3Ws:
- Wear a cloth mask over your nose and mouth.
- Wait 6 feet apart. Avoid close contact.
- Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer.
Your county board of elections office should employ continuity of operations measures consistent with Office Operations During Pandemic: Numbered Memo 2020-17 to reduce the necessity to close if a known COVID exposure were identified.
For facilities that confirm they don’t have known COVID cases when scheduled, can we reconfirm on the day of scheduled visitation and cancel if there are active COVID cases?
It is highly recommended that MAT members confirm their scheduled appointment with the facility on the day of or the day before the scheduled visit.
1 08 NCAC 16 .0101.
2 See G.S. 163-226.3(a)(4), which does not apply to members, employees, or volunteers of the county board of elections, if those members, employees, or volunteers are working as part of a multipartisan team trained and authorized by the county board of elections to assist voters with absentee ballots.
3 See Section 2.5.(a) of Session Law 2020-17.
4 08 NCAC 16 .0104(g).
[Download the PDF below for an attachment with multipartisan assistance team guidance from NCDHHS.]
↓ Multipartisan Assistance Team FAQ and DHHS Guidance: Numbered Memo 2020-24 (PDF)