GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1995

S	1 

SENATE BILL 322

Short Title:  Voters Sign Pollbook.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Senators Horton, McDaniel, Sawyer, Ledbetter, Clark, Blackmon, Foxx, Shaw, Carrington, Cochrane, Little, Forrester, Hartsell, and Carpenter.

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Referred to:  Judiciary II/Election Laws

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March 8, 1995

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO REQUIRE VOTERS TO SIGN THE POLLBOOK BEFORE VOTING.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 163-150(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Checking Registration. – A person seeking to vote shall enter the voting enclosure at the voting place through the appropriate entrance and shall at once state his name and place of residence to one of the judges of election. In a primary election, the voter shall also state the political party with which he affiliates and in whose primary he desires to vote, or if the voter is an unaffiliated voter permitted to vote in the primary of a particular party under G.S. 163-116, the voter shall state the name of the authorizing political party in whose primary he wishes to vote. The judge 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 precinct registration records, the chief judge shall state whether the person seeking to vote is duly registered. If the chief judge states that the person is duly registered, the person shall sign the pollbook in accordance with subsection (f) of this section before voting."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 163-150(f) reads as rewritten:
"(f)	Maintenance of Pollbook or Other Record of Voting. – At each primary, general or special election, the precinct chief judge shall appoint two precinct assistants (one from each political party as recommended by the county chairman thereof), one to be assigned to keep the pollbook or other voting record used in the county as approved by the State Board of Elections, and the other to keep the registration books under the supervision of the precinct officials. The names of all persons voting shall be checked on the registration records and the voter, before voting, shall sign his or her name on the pollbook or other voting record, unless the voter shall be unable to sign his or her name, in which event the voter's name shall be entered on the pollbook by a precinct official before the voter votes. In an election where observers may be appointed under G.S. 163-45 each voter's party affiliation shall be entered in the proper column of the book or other approved record opposite his name. The precinct assistant shall make each entry at the time the ballots are handed to the voter. As soon as the polls are closed, the chief judge and judges of election shall sign the pollbook or other approved record immediately beneath the last voter's name entered therein. The chief judge or the judge appointed to attend the county canvass shall deliver the pollbook or other approved record to the chairman of the county board of elections at the time of the county canvass, and the chairman shall remain responsible for its safekeeping."
Sec. 3.  This act becomes effective January 1, 1996, and applies to all primaries and elections occurring on or after that date.