A voter or his or her near relative or verifiable legal guardian may deliver a by-mail absentee ballot to a one-stop site. A “near relative” is defined for this purpose by G. S. § 163-230.1(f) to mean spouse, brother, sister, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, mother-in-law, father-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, stepparent, or stepchild.
No one other than a “near relative” may be in possession of a person’s absentee ballot. Violation of this law is a felony. See G.S. § 163-226.3 (6) (emphasis added):
§ 163-226.3. Certain acts declared felonies. (a) Any person who shall, in connection with absentee voting in any election held in this State, do any of the acts or things declared in this section to be unlawful, shall be guilty of a Class I felony. It shall be unlawful: (1) For any person except the voter's near relative or the voter's verifiable legal guardian to assist the voter to vote an absentee ballot when the voter is voting an absentee ballot other than under the procedure described in G.S. 163-227.2; provided that if there is not a near relative or legal guardian available to assist the voter, the voter may request some other person to give assistance; (2) For any person to assist a voter to vote an absentee ballot under the absentee voting procedure authorized by G.S. 163-227.2 except as provided in that section; (3) For a voter who votes an absentee ballot under the procedures authorized by G.S. 163-227.2 to vote that voter's absentee ballot outside of the voting booth or private room provided to the voter for that purpose in or adjacent to the office of the county board of elections or at the additional site provided by G.S 163-227.2(f1), or to receive assistance except as provided in G.S. 163-227.2; . . . .
(6) For any person to take into that person's possession for delivery to a voter or for return to a county board of elections the absentee ballot of any voter, provided, however, that this prohibition shall not apply to a voter's near relative or the voter's verifiable legal guardian; (7) Except as provided in subsections (1), (2), (3) and (4) of this section, G.S 163-231(a), and G.S. 163-227.2(e), for any voter to permit another person to assist the voter in marking that voter's absentee ballot, to be in the voter's presence when a voter votes an absentee ballot, or to observe the voter mark that voter's absentee ballot.
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Pursuant to North Carolina law for absentee voting (see G.S. 163-231, below), the voter is to mark his or her absentee ballot “in the presence of two persons who are at least 18 years of age,” or alternatively, in the presence of a notary public.
The voter’s absentee witnesses are (or the single notary public witness is) required to sign the application on the container-return envelope. The signature is verification by the witness that he or she observed the voter do or cause to have done the following:
mark the ballot;
fold the ballot;
place the ballot into the container-return envelope; and
securely seal it.
A correctly completed absentee ballot will have the following characteristics:
The voted ballot is sealed in its container-return envelope.
The application on the back of the container-return envelope has the required signatures:
signature of the voter and
signature of witnesses (two persons over the age of eighteen), OR
signature of notary public (a notary-public may serve as a single witness).
Even when the application on the container-return envelope is missing the required signatures, or is otherwise incomplete, the one-stop official shall accept the voted ballot for delivery back to the county board of elections. Neither the one-stop official(s) nor county board of elections staff may attempt to correct the deficiency of the required signatures on a voter’s absentee application.
One-stop official(s) may witness a voter mark, fold and place the ballot in the container return envelope. However, no election official or other person may “witness” the voter’s container-return envelope if the voted ballot is already sealed in the envelope, because to “witness” means to actually observe the voter marking or causing the ballot to be marked, folded and sealed in the envelope.
§ 163-231. Voting absentee ballots and transmitting them to the county board of elections. (a) Procedure for Voting Absentee Ballots. - In the presence of two persons who are at least 18 years of age, and who are not disqualified by G.S. § 163-226.3(a)(4) or G.S. § 163-237(b1), the voter shall do all of the following: (1) Mark the voter's ballots, or cause them to be marked by that person in the voter's presence according to the voter's instruction. (2) Fold each ballot separately, or cause each of them to be folded in the voter's presence. (3) Place the folded ballots in the container-return envelope and securely seal it, or have this done in the voter's presence. (4) Make the application printed on the container-return envelope according to the provisions of G.S. § 163-229(b) and make the certificate printed on the container-return envelope according to the provisions of G.S. § 163-229(b). (5) Require those two persons in whose presence the voter marked that voter's ballots to sign the application and certificate as witnesses and to indicate those persons' addresses. Failure to list a ZIP code does not invalidate the application and certificate. Alternatively to the prior paragraph of this subsection, any requirement for two witnesses shall be satisfied if witnessed by one notary public, who shall comply with all the other requirements of that paragraph. The notary shall affix a valid notarial seal to the envelope, and include the word "Notary Public" below his or her signature. The persons in whose presence the ballot is marked shall at all times respect the secrecy of the ballot and the privacy of the absentee voter, unless the voter requests assistance and that person is otherwise authorized by law to give assistance. When thus executed, the sealed container-return envelope, with the ballots enclosed, shall be transmitted in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section to the county board of elections which issued the ballots.
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