County Board of Elections Training: Election officials must attend an instructional meeting presented by the county board of elections prior to each primary or election.
State Board of Elections Training: The State Board of Elections shall conduct a program for certification of election officials. The program shall include training in election law and procedures. This Resource Guide was developed by the State Board of Elections for this purpose.
Election officials shall set up election day polling places the night before the election.
Layout
Election officials shall adhere to the following instructions for setting up the polling site:
Keep the voting room compact. If the allotted voting space is large, such as an auditorium or gym, use only a portion of the room.
Do not place the check-in table at the door to the enclosure; even a small line could block people entering and leaving the enclosure.
Ensure that tables are placed in an arrangement that allows for lines that will not cross or be confusing for voters entering the enclosure.
Place the accessible voting equipment in a position to allow for voter privacy but not in a position to be mistaken for a tabulator.
Place tabulators near the exit of the voting enclosure.
Be mindful of accessibility standards when arranging the layout. If an accessibility issue arises, the election official must immediately notify the affected county board of elections.
Hang and display all required signage.
Place a trashcan near the exit of the voting enclosure to assist voters in disposal of unwanted materials.
Measurement and Establishment of Buffer Zones
The dimensions of the buffer zone for the voting place must be measured and signage accordingly displayed. Where possible, the buffer limit should be 50 feet from the door of entrance to the voting place (as measured when the door is closed). In no event should the buffer limit be less than 25 feet from the door.
Contact List
The election official overseeing the preparation of the polling site shall:
Ensure that there is an emergency contact list for the voting site; and
Provide the county board of elections with his or her emergency contact information.
Voting Systems
The members of the county board of elections shall ensure that within three days before the election, each voting system is delivered to the voting place and is placed in the custody of the chief judge or designated official, with the ballot labels or other necessary identifiers already in place on each unit.
Keys and other security devices necessary for the operation of the voting system shall be delivered to the chief judge in a sealed container.
All materials shall be transported with a chain of custody form that includes the signatures and times in which the supplies are in the custody of each official.
All supplies, once received, shall be verified and signed for by the election official who receives the voting systems materials, including voting equipment, ballots, equipment media readers, or security keys.
The election official(s) issuing the ballots to eligible voters shall ensure that the ballots remain secure at all times and are not accessible by anyone other than an election official charged with responsibility for their security.
Voting Place Materials
The chief judge must be prepared to pick up the following materials from the county board of elections no later than the evening before election day:
NC Voting Site Election Supplies Checklist
Chief Judge Checklist
Chief Judge essential supplies
Voting interior materials
Interior & Entrance signage
Exterior & Curbside signage
Registration & Check-in materials
Help Station materials
Ballot Station materials
Voter Challenge Materials
Office Supplies & other administrative supplies
A voting site checklist should be completed to reflect the receipt of these materials.
[G.S. § 163-274; § 163-275]
All election officials must be aware of and are legally liable for failure to perform their responsibilities and duties.
It shall be unlawful (subject to a Class 2 Misdemeanor) for election official:
to fail to prepare the books, ballots, and return blanks or to fail to distribute them as required by law, or to fail to perform any other duty imposed upon him or her; and
to fail to accomplish these responsibilities within the time and in the manner required by law.
It shall be unlawful (subject to a Class I felony) for an election official to do any of the following:
Knowingly make any false or fraudulent entry on any election book or any false or fraudulent returns, or knowingly make or cause to be made any false statement on any ballot, or to do any fraudulent act or knowingly and fraudulently omit to do any act or make any report legally required of such person;
Make any entry or copy with intent to commit a fraud;
Make, certify, deliver or transmit any false returns of any primary or election, or make any erasure, alteration, or conceal or destroy any election ballot, book, record, return or process with intent to commit a fraud;
Directly or indirectly, seek, receive or accept money or the promise of money, the promise of office, or other reward or compensation from a candidate in any primary or election or from any source other than as provided by law for his or her services.
Judges of election (also called precinct judges) help the chief judge with the administration and conduct of all primary and general elections within a polling place. A judge of election may be designated to perform tasks and duties of a chief judge as long as those duties are not statutorily made exclusive to the chief judge. If the chief judge fails to appear at the opening of poll, a judge of election must appoint someone to act as chief judge until the chair of the county board appoints a new chief judge.
Any person considered for appointment as a judge of election shall review § 163-47 to affirm that he or she is not ineligible to serve on the basis of a relationship or relationships referenced in that section.
Each judge of election shall attend an instructional meeting presented by the county board of elections prior to each primary or election.
A judge of election must promptly notify the county board of elections of any sickness, emergency, or other circumstances that might prevent him or her from performing as precinct judge on a primary or election day.
Prior to an election, the judges of election must review the list of candidates that have filed for office and determine who will be on the ballot. Upon learning that any parent, spouse, child, or sibling has filed for elective office, a judge of election must promptly inform the county board of elections so that the county board may remain in compliance with provisions of the law prohibiting a precinct official from serving in an election with a close relative as a candidate.
A judge of election must inform the county board of elections if any blood relative of kinship of first cousin or nearer or a parent in-law, child in-law or sibling in-law is a precinct official/worker serving with him or her in the same precinct, and not to serve with that relative in the same precinct. A judge must also inform the county board of elections of any relationship, as described in the previous sentence, that he or she may have with an emergency election-day assistant and not serve with that person in the same precinct.
It is recommended that the judges of election be familiar with the election districts that pertain to their assigned precincts and have knowledge of the ballot styles that will be available in the precincts on election day.
Judges of election must be present at the voting place by 6:00 a.m. and ensure the prompt opening of the polls at 6:30 a.m.
If the chief judge fails to appear at the opening of poll, a judge of election shall appoint, with the other precinct judge, a person to act as chief judge until the chairman of the county board appoints a new chief judge.
On the day of each primary and general or special election, the judges of election shall remain at the voting place from the time fixed by law for the commencement of their duties until they have completed those duties, and they shall not separate nor shall any one of them leave the voting place except for unavoidable necessity.
Judges of election must review their legal responsibilities they are legally liable for failure to carry out those duties and responsibilities, including:
Perform the required legal duties of chief precinct judge/judge or face criminal consequences.
Not accept money from candidates, commit fraud, false statements, or false writings in performing election duties, or face the criminal
Aid and cooperate cooperation with and assistance to the precinct chief judge in performance of his or her duties, as requested or needed.
Election assistants (also called precinct assistants) shall aid the chief judge and other judges of election in the performances of their tasks and duties as requested or needed.
Any person considered for appointment as a precinct assistant shall review the law to affirm that he or she is not ineligible to serve on the basis of a family relationship.
Election assistants may assist by monitoring the voting enclosure and assist any voter who requests instruction in how the voting equipment works or in how to properly mark a ballot. Judges and assistants may change duty stations during the course of the day as determined by the chief judge for breaks, meals, etc.
It is recommended that election assistants receive training prior to each election event.
An assistant shall promptly notify the county board of elections of any sickness, emergency, or other circumstances that might prevent him or her from performing as an assistant on a primary or election day.
Upon learning that any parent, spouse, child, or sibling has filed for elective office, a judge of election must inform the county board of elections so that the county board may remain in compliance with provisions of the law that prohibit a precinct official from serving in an election with a close relative as a candidate.
Election assistants have the following tasks to perform for each primary or election:
Prior to performing duties and tasks after being duly appointed, take the required oath
Aid the chief judge and other precinct judges in the performances of their tasks and duties as needed or directed.
Check the registration of voters at the voting place
Guide voters to voting units or provide voters ballots
Act as a precinct greeter.
Take applications for provisional voting.
Maintain the segregation of blank, voted and spoiled ballots.
Instruct voters in the proper use of the voting equipment.
Assist with curbside voting.
An election greeter is a special election assistant whose role is not only to welcome voters to the voting site, but also to provide initial assistance and guidance as follows:
Assist with the checking of voter registration status.
Assist with the determination of the voter’s proper precinct.
Provide information regarding the acceptable types of ID under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).
Provide information regarding the proper method to ask for assistance.
Provide information concerning the expected wait time for the voter to reach a check-in official.
Counties are encouraged to use election day rovers to provide technical support to the precincts during large elections. Rovers visit each precinct at times during the day to make sure that everything is operating correctly; they may be dispatched to a precinct that has machine problems or needs any other assistance. A rover’s district should be kept small enough to allow quick access to any precinct should circumstances require it.
A county board of elections, by unanimous vote of all of its members, may appoint any registered voter in the county as an emergency election-day assistant, as long as that voter is otherwise qualified to be a precinct official. The county board, by unanimous vote of all of its members, may assign emergency election-day assistants on the day of the election to any precinct in the county, provided the number of precinct officials in that county is insufficient because of an emergency occurring within 48 hours of the opening of the polls that prevents an appointed precinct official from serving.
A person appointed to serve as emergency election-day assistant shall be trained and paid like other precinct assistants. A county board of elections shall apportion emergency election-day assistant appointments among registrants of each political party to ensure staffing of each precinct with officials of more than one party. The county board shall make assignments such that no precinct has precinct officials that are all registered with the same party.
An applicant who wishes to serve as a student election assistant must be a U.S. citizen who will be at least 17 years old by election day and who resides in the precinct in question. Applicants must be in good academic standing with the school where they are enrolled (including public, private and home schools), and must have permission from a parent (or guardian/legal custodian) and from their school principal/director.
Student election assistants shall be trained in the same manner as precinct assistants (as directed by G.S. 163.82.24) and are to be compensated in the same way that precinct assistants are compensated.
Student election assistants may carry out responsibilities as assigned by their appointing boards of elections, though in no circumstance may a student who is ineligible to register to vote be appointed or directed to act as a precinct judge or observer in any election.
Student election assistants may help in the same capacity as precinct assistants with the following tasks:
Greet voters.
Assist with checking voter registration list to generate or print vote-authorizing document.
Assist with ballot distribution.
Assist in explaining provisional voting procedures.
Assist voters at the tabulator.