Bill Text: NC H862 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Election Integrity/Voter Access Act
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-04-14 - Ref To Com On Elections [H862 Detail]
Download: North_Carolina-2011-H862-Amended.html
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2011
H 1
HOUSE BILL 862
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Short Title: Election Integrity/Voter Access Act. |
(Public) |
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Sponsors: |
Representatives Hall, Owens, Spear, and Hill (Primary Sponsors). For a complete list of Sponsors, see Bill Information on the NCGA Web Site. |
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Referred to: |
Elections. |
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April 14, 2011
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to Enhance Election Integrity and Protect Voter Access.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.1. G.S. 163‑166.7(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a) Checking Registration. – A person seeking to
vote shall enter the voting enclosure through the appropriate entrance. A
precinct official assigned to check registration shall at once ask the voter to
state current name and residence address. The voter shall answer by stating
current name and residence address. address and shall present a
government issued photo identification or an identification document listed in
G.S. 163‑166.12(b). If the voter does not present an identification
document and is not subject to the provisions of G.S. 163‑166.12(a),
the voter shall complete an affidavit prescribed by the Board that requires the
voter to provide the voter's name, residential address, and date of birth and sign a statement under penalty of perjury that the voter is the voter
whose name appears on the registration roll. The affidavit shall clearly state
that the penalty for knowingly making a false statement is a Class I felony. In
a primary election, that voter shall also be asked to state, and shall state,
the political party with which the voter is affiliated or, if unaffiliated, the
authorizing party in which the voter wishes to vote. After examination, that
official shall state whether that voter is duly registered to vote in that
precinct and shall direct that voter to the voting equipment or to the official
assigned to distribute official ballots. If a precinct official states that the
person is duly registered, the person shall sign the pollbook, other voting
record, or voter authorization document in accordance with subsection (c) of
this section before voting."
SECTION 1.2. G.S. 163‑227.2(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b) Not earlier than the third Thursday before an
election, in which absentee ballots are authorized, in which a voter seeks to
vote and not later than 1:00 P.M. on the last Saturday before that election,
the voter shall appear in person only at the office of the county board of
elections, except as provided in subsection (g) of this section. A county board
of elections shall conduct one‑stop voting on the last Saturday before
the election until 1:00 P.M. and may conduct it until 5:00 P.M. on that
Saturday. That voter shall enter the voting enclosure at the board office
through the appropriate entrance and shall at once state his or her the
voter's name and place of residence to an authorized member or employee of
the board. board and shall present a government issued photo
identification or an identification document listed in G.S. 163‑166.12(b).
If the voter does not present an identification document and is not subject to
the provisions of G.S. 163‑166.12(a), the voter shall complete an
affidavit prescribed by the Board that requires the voter to provide the
voter's name, residential address, and date of birth and sign
a statement under penalty of perjury that the voter is the voter whose name
appears on the registration roll. The affidavit shall clearly state that the
penalty for knowingly making a false statement is a Class I felony. In
a primary election, the voter shall also state the political party with which
the voter affiliates and in whose primary the voter desires to vote, or if the
voter is an unaffiliated voter permitted to vote in the primary of a particular
party under G.S. 163‑119, the voter shall state the name of the
authorizing political party in whose primary he wishes to vote. The board
member or employee to whom the voter gives this information shall announce the
name and residence of the voter in a distinct tone of voice. After examining
the registration records, an employee of the board shall state whether the
person seeking to vote is duly registered. If the voter is found to be
registered that voter may request that the authorized member or employee of the
board furnish the voter with an application form as specified in G.S. 163‑227.
The voter shall complete the application in the presence of the authorized
member or employee of the board, and shall deliver the application to that
person."
SECTION 1.3. Education and publicity requirements. – The public shall be educated about the provisions of this act as follows:
(1) As counties use their regular processes to notify voters of assignments and reassignments to districts for election to the United States House of Representatives, State Senate, State House of Representatives, or local office, by including information about the provisions of this act.
(2) As counties send new voter registration cards to voters as a result of new registration, changes of address or other reasons, by including information about the provisions of this act.
(3) Counties that maintain a board of elections Web site shall include information about the provisions of this act.
(4) Notices of elections published by county boards of elections under G.S. 163‑22(8) for the May 2012 primary and 2012 general election shall include a brief statement that photo identification is required to vote.
(5) The State Board of Elections shall include on its Web site information about the provisions of this act.
(6) Counties shall post at the polls and at early voting sites beginning with the May 2012 primary elections information about the provisions of this act.
(7) The State Board of Education shall include in the Judicial Voter Guide described in G.S. 163‑278.69 information about the provisions of this act and shall also include the information in the Voter Guide under G.S. 163‑278.99E if it is published separately.
(8) The State Board of Elections and the county boards of elections shall take reasonable steps to provide public service announcements about the provisions of this act through print, radio, television, online, and social media. The sum of four hundred fifty thousand dollars ($450,000) is appropriated from the General Fund for the 2011‑2012 fiscal year to a special reserve to carry out the provisions of this act. Those funds shall be made available as follows:
a. One hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) to the State Board of Elections.
b. Two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) to county boards of elections in proportion to the number of registered voters in the county.
c. One hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) to county boards of elections in counties covered by section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, in proportion to the number of registered voters in the county.
SECTION 1.4. If consistent with the provisions of the Help America Vote Act, funds under Title I and Title II of the Help America Vote Act may be used for the purpose of Section 1.3 of this act.
SECTION 1.5. The sum of one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) is appropriated from the General Fund for the 2011‑2013 fiscal years to the State Board of Election for employment and expenses of an investigator to investigate, document, and prepare for prosecution possible evidence of voter fraud, including cases involving voter impersonation.
SECTION 1.6. Sections 1.1 and 1.2 of this act become effective beginning with the statewide primary election in 2012. Sections 1.3, 1.4, and 1.5 of this act become effective July 1, 2011. This section is effective when it becomes law.
