GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1995

S	1 

SENATE BILL 323

Short Title:  Observers at Polls.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Senators Horton, Gulley, McDaniel, Sawyer, Clark, McKoy, Blackmon, Cochrane, Shaw, Carrington, Foxx, Forrester, Little, Hartsell, Parnell, 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 PROVIDE THAT OBSERVERS AT A PRECINCT'S VOTING PLACE NEED NOT BE REGISTERED VOTERS IN THAT PRECINCT BUT SHALL BE REGISTERED VOTERS IN THE COUNTY.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 163-45 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163-45.  Observers; appointment.
The chairman of each political party in the county shall have the right to designate two observers to attend each voting place at each primary and election and such observers may, at the option of the designating party chairman, be relieved during the day of the primary or election after serving no less than four hours and provided the list required by this section to be filed by each chairman contains the names of all persons authorized to represent such chairman's political party.  Not more than two observers from the same political party shall be permitted in the voting enclosure at any time.  This right shall not extend to the chairman of a political party during a primary unless that party is participating in the primary.  In any election in which an unaffiliated candidate is named on the ballot, he or his campaign manager shall have the right to appoint two observers for each voting place consistent with the provisions specified herein.  Persons appointed as observers must be registered voters of the county for which appointed and must have good moral character.  Observers shall take no oath of office.
Individuals authorized to appoint observers must submit in writing to the chief judge of each precinct a signed list of the observers appointed for that precinct.  Individuals authorized to appoint observers must, prior to 10:00 A.M. on the fifth day prior to any primary or general election, submit in writing to the chairman of the county board of elections two signed copies of a list of observers appointed by them, designating the precinct for which each observer is appointed.  Before the opening of the voting place on the day of a primary or general election, the chairman shall deliver one copy of the list to the chief judge for each affected precinct.  He shall retain the other copy.  The chairman, or the chief judge and judges for each affected precinct, may for good cause reject any appointee and require that another be appointed.  The names of any persons appointed in place of those persons rejected shall be furnished in writing to the chief judge of each affected precinct no later than the time for opening the voting place on the day of any primary or general election, either by the chairman of the county board of elections or the person making the substitute appointment.
An observer shall do no electioneering at the voting place, and he shall in no manner impede the voting process or interfere or communicate with or observe any voter in casting his ballot, but, subject to these restrictions, the chief judge and judges of elections shall permit him to make such observation and take such notes as he may desire.
Whether or not the observer attends to the polls for the requisite time provided by this section, each observer shall be entitled to obtain at times specified by the State Board of Elections, but not less than three times during election day with the spacing not less than one hour apart, a list of the persons who have voted in the precinct so far in that election day.  Counties that use an "authorization to vote document" instead of poll books may comply with the requirement in the previous sentence by permitting each observer to inspect election records so that the observer may create a list of persons who have voted in the precinct so far that election day; each observer shall be entitled to make the inspection at times specified by the State Board of Elections, but not less than three times during election day with the spacing not less than one hour apart."
Sec. 2.  This act becomes effective January 1, 1996, and applies to all primaries and elections occurring on or after that date.