Article 21 of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes covers
military voting. The Federal Post Card
Application developed by the FVAP is accepted in
The Federal Write-In Absentee
Ballot (FWAB) is accepted in
GS §163-82.21 mandates that the State Board of Elections works in cooperation with the Department of Defense to provide voter registration at armed forces recruitment offices. This program, implemented in 1995, registers a few hundred voters per year.
GS §163-254 is an important statute as to military voting. It was rewritten by the 2001 General Assembly to clarify the issue as to whether a person absent the last day to register but not the entire registration period could register and vote on Election Day. The newly amended statute now reads as follows (new material is underlined),
GS § 163-254: Registration and voting on primary or Election Day. Notwithstanding any other provisions of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes, any person entitled to vote an absentee ballot pursuant to G.S. 163-245 who is absent in any of the capacities specified in that section on the day the registration records close for an election but who returns to that person's county of residence in North Carolina thereafter shall be permitted to register in person at any time including the day of a primary or election. Should such person's eligibility to register or vote as provided in G.S. 163-245 terminate after the twenty-fifth day prior to a primary or election, such person, if he appears in person, shall be entitled to register if otherwise qualified after the twenty-fifth day before the primary or election, or on the primary or election day, and shall be permitted to vote if such person is otherwise qualified."
Also of interest is House Bill 1330, which was reported favorably in House Election Laws Committee. As a result, the next Election Laws Revision Commission may be studying the issue of Internet military voting. The bill is set out in the following section.
A BILL TO BE ENT
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. The Legislative Research Commission may study issues related to the creation and implementation of an Internet voting system for North Carolinians serving in the armed forces or may assign such a study to the Election Laws Revision Commission, if established. If this study is undertaken, the Commission shall examine the following issues:
(1) The State Board of Elections implementing an Internet voting system for persons in the armed forces and their spouses, for certain veterans, and for civilians working with the armed forces.
(2) The system for Internet voting, including both software development and the cost of purchasing necessary hardware.
(3)
The impact of a system for Internet voting on
the existing voting systems in
(4) The ability to provide for secure identification and authentication of any information transmitted on the system.
(5) The protection of the privacy, anonymity, and integrity of each voter's ballot.
(6) The interplay between the State Board of Elections and the county boards of elections in developing, implementing, and utilizing a system for Internet voting administered by the State Board of Elections.
(7) Other factors applicable to developing a system for Internet voting for military personnel.
The Commission may report to the 2002 Regular Session of the 2001 General Assembly or to the 2003 General Assembly on its findings and may make any legislative recommendations it considers appropriate.
SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law.
Faxed absentee ballots can be counted under GS §163-257, but the State Board has approved no regulations or guidelines as to procedures.
§ 163-257. Facsimile and electronic mail transmission of election materials. An applicant entitled to exercise the rights conferred by this Article may apply for registration and an absentee ballot by facsimile or electronic mail if otherwise qualified to apply for and vote by absentee ballot. A county board of elections may send and receive absentee ballot applications and accept voted ballots by facsimile or electronic mail from eligible electors as defined in G.S. 163-245. The State Board of Elections shall promulgate uniform rules for the use of facsimiles and electronic mail in application and voting under this section, and all county boards of elections shall adhere to those rules. (1999-455, s. 20.)
The staff of the State Board have drafted the following proposed changes in military voting law would make both technical changes and changes that would bring NC into compliance with pending federal legislation that has a good likelihood of passing. The draft changes include the following:
Section 1. G.S. 163-247(1) would read as rewritten
(1) Federal Postcard Application Form. At any time prior to the statewide primary or general election in which he seeks to vote, the applicant may make and sign a written application to the county board of elections in the county of the voter’s residence for absentee ballots on the postcard form specified in or promulgated by regulation under The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986 (UOCAVA), 42 USC § 1973ff(b) and § 1973ff-3. The election official shall consider such postcard as a simultaneous absentee voter registration application and absentee ballot application.
Section 2. G.S. 163-245(b)(1) would read as rewritten
(1) Individuals serving in the armed forces of the United States, including (but not limited to) the army, the navy, the air force, the marine corps, the coast guard, the Merchant Marine, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service, and members of the national guard and military reserve.
Section 3. G.S. 163-246 would be amended by adding the following to the end of the first paragraph:
The true intent of this article shall be that each uniformed voter receives the utmost consideration and cooperation when voting, that each valid ballot cast by such voter is duly counted, and that all qualified uniformed services voters have equal opportunity to cast a vote and have it counted if it conforms with the law. For purposes of this article, “uniformed voters” shall mean those persons set out in G.S. 163-245(b) and those persons set out as such in The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986 (UOCAVA).
Section 4. G.S. 163-253 would read as rewritten:
Article applicable to persons after change of status; re-registration not required. Upon discharge from the armed forces of the United States or termination of any other status qualifying him to register and vote by absentee ballot under the provisions of this Article, the voter shall not be entitled to vote by military absentee ballot, but if he was registered under the provisions of this Article his registration shall remain valid for the remainder of the calendar year he registered and he shall be entitled to vote in any primary or election for the remainder of that calendar year without having to reregister. If requested by election officials, the voter shall present proof of this military status at the time he registered.
Section 5. G.S. 163-251 would be amended to add the following subsection:
(e) If a single application from an absentee uniformed voter is received by an election official, it shall be considered a valid absentee ballot application with respect to all general, primary, and runoff elections for Federal, State, County or Municipal offices held during the calendar year the application was received. This provision does not apply to special elections not involving the election of candidates, unless such special election is being held at the same time of a general or primary election.
[There may be considerations to include this section in G.S. 163-249(2) and also reference 247(3).]
(Rev. 08/12/2003@15:05:00-BJS)