North Carolina § 163-82 - 6. Acceptance of application forms

§ 163-82. 6. Acceptance of application forms

How the Form May Be Submitted. - The county board of elections shall accept any form described in G.S. 163-82.3 if the applicant submits the form by mail, facsimile transmission, transmission of a scanned document, or in person. The applicant may delegate the submission of the form to another person. Any person who communicates to an applicant acceptance of that delegation shall deliver that form so that it is received by the appropriate county board of elections in time to satisfy the registration deadline in subdivision (1) or (2) of subsection (c) of this section for the next election. It shall be a Class 2 misdemeanor for any person to communicate to the applicant acceptance of that delegation and then fail to make a good faith effort to deliver the form so that it is received by the county board of elections in time to satisfy the registration deadline in subdivision (1) or (2) of subsection (c) of this section for the next election. It shall be an affirmative defense to a charge of failing to make a good faith effort to deliver a delegated form by the registration deadline that the delegatee informed the applicant that the form would not likely be delivered in time for the applicant to vote in the next election. It shall be a Class 2 misdemeanor for any person to sell or attempt to sell a completed voter registration form or to condition its delivery upon payment. Misdemeanors. - It shall be a Class 2 misdemeanor for any person to do any of the following: To communicate to the applicant acceptance of the delegation described in subsection (a) of this section and then fail to make a good faith effort to deliver the form so that it is received by the county board of elections in time to satisfy the registration deadline in subdivision (1) or (2) of subsection (c) of this section for the next election. It shall be an affirmative defense to a charge of failing to make a good faith effort to deliver a delegated form by the registration deadline that the delegatee informed the applicant that the form would not likely be delivered in time for the applicant to vote in the next election. To sell or attempt to sell a completed voter registration form or to condition its delivery upon payment. To change a person's information on a voter registration form prior to its delivery to a county board of elections To coerce a person into marking a party affiliation other than the party affiliation the person desires. To offer a person a voter registration form that has a party affiliation premarked unless the person receiving the form has requested the premarking. Signature. - The form shall be valid only if signed by the applicant. An electronically captured signature, including signatures on applications generated by computer programs of third-party groups, shall not be valid on a voter registration form, except as provided in Article 21A of this Chapter. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, an electronically captured image of the signature of a voter on an electronic voter registration form offered by a State agency shall be considered a valid signature for all purposes for which a signature on a paper voter registration form is used. Registration Deadlines for a Primary or Election. - In order to be valid for a primary or election, except as provided in G.S. 163-82.6A, the form: If submitted by mail, must be postmarked at least 25 days before the primary or election, except that any mailed application on which the postmark is missing or unclear is validly submitted if received in the mail not later than 20 days before the primary or election, If submitted in person, by facsimile transmission, or by transmission of a scanned document, must be received by the county board of elections by a time established by that board, but no earlier than 5:00 P.M., on the twenty-fifth day before the primary or election, If submitted through a delegatee who violates the duty set forth in subsection (a) of this section, must be signed by the applicant and given to the delegatee not later than 25 days before the primary or election, except as provided in subsection (d) of this section. If the application is submitted by facsimile transmission or transmission of a scanned document, a permanent copy of the completed, signed form shall be delivered to the county board no later than 20 days before the election. Instances When Person May Register and Vote on Primary or Election Day. - If a person has become qualified to register and vote between the twenty-fifth day before a primary or election and primary or election day, then that person may apply to register on primary or election day by submitting an application form described in G.S. 163-82.3(a) or (b) to: A member of the county board of elections; The county director of elections; or The chief judge or a judge of the precinct in which the person is eligible to vote, For purposes of subsection (d) of this section, persons who "become qualified to register and vote" during a time period: Include those who during that time period are naturalized as citizens of the United States or who are restored to citizenship after a conviction of a felony; but Do not include persons who reach the age of 18 during that time period, if those persons were eligible to register while 17 years old during an earlier period. The county board of elections shall forward by electronic means any application submitted for the purpose of preregistration to the State Board of Elections. No later than 60 days prior to the first election in which the applicant will be legally entitled to vote, the State Board of Elections shall notify the appropriate county board of elections to verify the qualifications and address of the applicant in accordance with G.S. 163-82.7. and, if the application is approved, that person may vote the same day. The official in subdivisions (1) through (3) of this subsection to whom the application is submitted shall decide whether the applicant is eligible to vote. The applicant shall present to the official written or documentary evidence that the applicant is the person he represents himself to be. The official, if in doubt as to the right of the applicant to register, may require other evidence satisfactory to that official as to the applicant's qualifications. If the official determines that the person is eligible, the person shall be permitted to vote in the primary or election and the county board shall add the person's name to the list of registered voters. If the official denies the application, the person shall be permitted to vote a challenged ballot under the provisions of G.S. 163-88.1 , and may appeal the denial to the full county board of elections. The State Board of Elections shall promulgate rules for the county boards of elections to follow in hearing appeals for denial of primary or election day applications to register. No person shall be permitted to register on the day of a second primary unless he shall have become qualified to register and vote between the date of the first primary and the date of the succeeding second primary. Editor's Note. - This section was recodified as now former G.S. 163A-865 by Session Laws 2017-6, s. 3. Former G.S. 163A-865 was then re-recodified as this section by Session Laws 2018-146, s. 3.1(a), effective January 31, 2019. The historical citation from the former section has been added to this section as re-recodified. Former subsection (d) of this section was renumbered as subsections (d) and (e) pursuant to Session Laws 1997-456, s. 27 which authorized the Revisor of Statutes to renumber or reletter sections and parts of sections having a number or letter designation that is incompatible with the General Assembly's computer database. Session Laws 2003-226, s. 1, provides: "The purpose of this act is to ensure that the State of North Carolina has a system for all North Carolina elections that complies with the requirements for federal elections set forth in the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002, Public Law 107-252, 116 Stat. 1666 (2002), codified at 42 U.S.C. §§ 15481-15485. "The General Assembly finds that the education and training of election officials as required by G.S. 163-82.34 has met and continues to meet the mandate for the education and training of precinct officials and other election officials in section 254(a)(3) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002. The General Assembly further finds that the establishment, development, and continued operation of the statewide list maintenance program for voter registration set forth in G.S. 163-82.14 has met and continues to meet the mandates of section 303(a)(2) of the Help America Vote Act of 2002. "In certain other areas of the election statutes and other laws, the General Assembly finds that the statutes must be amended to comply with the Help America Vote Act." Session Laws 2007-253, s. 4, provides: "The State Board of Elections shall monitor the implementation of this act and determine the feasibility and timetable for expanding same-day registration and voting to all voting places on Election Day. The State Board shall report its findings no later than March 1, 2009, to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations of the General Assembly." Session Laws 2007-253, s. 5, provides: "Sections 1, 2, and 3 of this act become effective as follows: "(1) If preclearance under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is obtained before September 1, 2007, those sections are effective with regard to registration and voting for any primary or election held on or after October 9, 2007. "(2) If preclearance is obtained during September 2007, those sections are effective with regard to registration and voting for any primary or election held on or after November 6, 2007. "(3) If preclearance is obtained on or after October 1, 2007, those sections are effective with regard to registration and voting for any primary or election held on or after the 60th day after preclearance is obtained." Session Laws 2007-253 received preclearance from the U.S. Department of Justice by letter dated August 16, 2007. Session Laws 2018-134, 3rd Ex. Sess., s. 1.1, provides: "This act shall be known as 'The Hurricane Florence Emergency Response Act." Session Laws 2018-134, 3rd Ex. Sess., s. 5.3(a), (b), provided for certain elections relief and accommodations, applicable for the November 2018 election only, in response to Hurricane Florence and its aftermath. Session Laws 2018-146, s. 3.1(b), effective January 31, 2019, repealed Session Laws 2017-6, s. 3, which had recodified this section. Session Laws 2021-56, s. 1.5(d), provides that the deletion of the former last sentence of subsection (f) of this section by Session Laws 2021-56, s. 1.5(b), is effective March 9, 2022, and expires on June 1, 2022. Session Laws 2021-56, s. 1.9, provides: "This act shall not apply to offices elected at large in any municipality where there is an election of municipal officers scheduled for 2021, where less than the entire jurisdiction is eligible to vote for candidates for one or more offices on the 2021, and that municipality has notified the county board of elections at least five business days prior to the opening of the 2021 filing period as provided in Article 23 or 24 of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes for the method of election for that municipality. If the county board of elections is so notified, the county board of elections shall open the filing period for the offices elected at large only for that municipality and conduct the election in 2021 in accordance with that municipality's charter and Chapter 163 of the General Statutes." Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2004-127, s. 9(a), effective July 26, 2004, inserted "transmission of a scanned document," in the first sentence of subsection (a); in subdivision (c)(2), inserted "or by transmission of a scanned document" and made a related change; inserted "or transmission of a scanned document" in subsection (c1); and made minor punctuation changes throughout. Session Laws 2007-253, s. 2, effective with regard to registration and voting for primaries or elections held on or after October 9, 2007, inserted " except as provided in G.S. 163-82.6 A" in subsection (c). For effective date, see Editor's Notes. Session Laws 2007-391, s. 16(a), effective December 1, 2007, and applicable to any offense committed on or after that date, rewrote former subsection (a), dividing it into present subsections (a) and (a1); in subsection (a1), added "to do any of the following" at the end of the introductory paragraph, inserted "described in subsection (a) of this section" in subdivision (a1)(1), deleted "It shall be a Class 2 misdemeanor for any person" preceding "To sell" in subdivision (a1)(2), added subdivisions (a1)(3) through (5), and made minor stylistic changes. Session Laws 2008-150, s. 5(d) and (e), effective August 2, 2008, in subsections (c) and (d), substituted "a primary or election" for "an election" each time it appears in the introductory language, and inserted "primary or" before "election" throughout. Session Laws 2009-541, s. 10(a), effective January 1, 2010, added subsection (f). Session Laws 2013-381, s. 13.1, effective January 1, 2014, in subsection (b), added the second sentence and "Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection" in the third sentence. Session Laws 2013-381, s. 16.3, effective January 1, 2014, deleted "except as provided in G.S. 163-82.6 A" following "primary or election" in subsection (c). Session Laws 2021-56, s. 1.5(a), deleted the former last sentence of subsection (f), which read: "No person shall be permitted to register on the day of a second primary unless he shall have become qualified to register and vote between the date of the first primary and the date of the succeeding second primary." For effective date and expiration, see editor's note.