§ 163-182.6. Abstracts.
(a) Abstracts to Be Prepared by County Board of Elections. - As soon as the county canvass has been completed, the county board of elections shall prepare abstracts of all the ballot items in a form prescribed by the State Board. The county board of elections shall have a separate count on the abstract for ballots cast under Part 5 of Article 14A of this Chapter. The county board of elections shall prepare those abstracts in triplicate originals. The county board shall retain one of the triplicate originals, and shall distribute one each to the clerk of superior court for the county and the State Board. The State Highway Patrol may, upon request of the State Board, be responsible for the delivery of the abstracts from each county to the State Board. The State Board shall provide the original abstract it receives to the Secretary of State.
(b) Composite Abstracts to Be Prepared by the State Board. - As soon as the State canvass has been completed, the State Board shall prepare composite abstracts of all those ballot items. The State Board shall prepare those composite abstracts in duplicate originals. The State Board shall retain one of the originals and the other original shall be kept by the Secretary of State.
(c) Duty of the Secretary of State. - The Secretary of State shall maintain the certified copies of abstracts received from the county and State boards of elections. The Secretary shall keep the abstracts in a form readily accessible and useful to the public.
(d) Forms by State Board of Elections. - The State Board of Elections shall prescribe forms for all abstracts. Those forms shall be uniform and shall, at a minimum, state the name of each candidate and the office sought and each referendum proposal, the number of votes cast for each candidate and proposal, the candidate or proposal determined to have prevailed, and a statement authenticating the count. (2001-398, s. 3; 2017-6, s. 3; 2018-146, s. 3.1(a), (b); 2023-139, s. 5.1; 2023-140, s. 31.)