A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to require the use of paper ballots in all elections in north carolina.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 163‑165(1) reads as rewritten:
"(1)	"Ballot" means an instrument on which a voter indicates a choice so that it may be recorded as a vote for or against a certain candidate or referendum proposal. The term "ballot" may include a paper ballot to be counted by hand, a paper ballot to be counted on an electronic scanner, or a paper ballot used on any other voting system."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 163‑165 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(5a)	"Paper ballot" means an individual paper document that bears marks made by the voter by hand or through electronic means.
SECTION 3.  G.S. 163‑165.7(a) reads as rewritten:
"§ 163‑165.7.  Voting systems: powers and duties of State Board of Elections.
(a)	Only voting systems that have been certified by the State Board of Elections in accordance with the procedures and subject to the standards set forth in this section and that have not been subsequently decertified shall be permitted for use in elections in this State. Those certified voting systems shall be valid in any election held in the State or in any county, municipality, or other electoral district in the State. Subject to all other applicable rules adopted by the State Board of Elections and, with respect to federal elections, subject to all applicable federal regulations governing voting systems, paper ballots marked by the voter and counted by hand shall be deemed a certified voting system. The State Board of Elections shall certify optical scan voting systems, optical scan with ballot markers voting systems, and direct record electronic voting systems if any of those systems meet all applicable requirements of federal and State law. The State Board may certify additional voting systems only if they meet the requirements of the request for proposal process set forth in this section and only if they generate a paper ballot which provides a backup means of counting the vote that the voter casts. Those voting systems may include optical scan and direct record electronic (DRE) voting systems that produce a paper ballot. In consultation with the Office of Information Technology Services, the State Board shall develop the requests for proposal subject to the provisions of this Chapter and other applicable State laws. Among other requirements, the request for proposal shall require at least all of the following elements:
(1)	That the vendor post a bond or letter of credit to cover damages resulting from defects in the voting system. Damages shall include, among other items, any costs of conducting a new election attributable to those defects.
(2)	That the voting system comply with all federal requirements for voting systems.
(3)	That the voting system must have the capacity to include in voting tabulation district returns the votes cast by voters outside of the voter's voting tabulation district as required by G.S. 163‑132.5G.
(4)	With respect to electronic voting systems, that the voting system generate a paper ballot of each individual vote cast, which paper ballot shall be maintained in a secure fashion and shall serve as a backup record for purposes of any hand‑to‑eye count, hand‑to‑eye recount, or other audit. Electronic systems that employ optical scan technology to count paper ballots shall be deemed to satisfy this requirement.
(5)	With respect to DRE voting systems, that the paper ballot generated by the system be viewable by the voter before the vote is cast electronically, and that the system permit the voter to correct any discrepancy between the electronic vote and the paper ballot before the vote is cast.
…
(d)	Subject to the provisions of this Chapter, the State Board of Elections shall prescribe rules for the adoption, handling, operation, and honest use of certified voting systems, including all of the following:
(1)	Procedures for county boards of elections to utilize when recommending the purchase of a certified voting system for use in that county.
(2)	Form of official ballot labels to be used on voting systems.
(3)	Operation and manner of voting on voting systems.
(4)	Instruction of precinct officials in the use of voting systems.
(5)	Instruction of voters in the use of voting systems.
(6)	Assistance to voters using voting systems.
(7)	Duties of custodians of voting systems.
(8)	Examination and testing of voting systems in a public forum in the county before and after use in an election.
(9)	Notwithstanding G.S. 132‑1.2, procedures for the review and examination of any information placed in escrow by a vendor pursuant to G.S. 163‑165.9A by only the following persons:
a.	State Board of Elections.
b.	Office of Information Technology Services.
c.	The State chairs of each political party recognized under G.S. 163‑96.
d.	The purchasing county.
Each person listed in sub‑subdivisions a. through d. of this subdivision may designate up to three persons as that person's agents to review and examine the information. No person shall designate under this subdivision a business competitor of the vendor whose proprietary information is being reviewed and examined. For purposes of this review and examination, any designees under this subdivision and the State party chairs shall be treated as public officials under G.S. 132‑2.
(10)	With respect to electronic voting systems, procedures to maintain the integrity of both the electronic vote count and the paper ballot. Those procedures shall at a minimum include procedures to protect against the alteration of the paper ballot after a machine vote has been recorded and procedures to prevent removal by the voter from the voting enclosure of any individually voted paper ballot or of any other device or item whose removal from the voting enclosure could permit compromise of the integrity of either the machine count or the paper ballot.
…."
SECTION 4.  G.S. 163‑166.7(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	The State Board of Elections shall promulgate rules for the process of voting. Those rules shall emphasize the appearance as well as the reality of dignity, good order, impartiality, and the convenience and privacy of the voter. Those rules, at a minimum, shall include procedures to ensure that all the following occur:
(1)	The voting system remains secure throughout the period voting is being conducted.
(2)	Only properly voted official ballots are introduced into the voting system.
(3)	Except as provided by G.S. 163‑166.9, no official ballots leave the voting enclosure during the time voting is being conducted there. The rules shall also provide that during that time no one shall remove from the voting enclosure any paper record or copy of an individually voted ballot or of any other device or item whose removal from the voting enclosure could permit compromise of the integrity of either the machine count or the paper record.
(4)	All improperly voted official ballots are returned to the precinct officials and marked as spoiled.
(5)	Voters leave the voting place promptly after voting.
(6)	Voters not clearly eligible to vote in the precinct but who seek to vote there are given proper assistance in voting a provisional official ballot or guidance to another voting place where they are eligible to vote.
(7)	Information gleaned through the voting process that would be helpful to the accurate maintenance of the voter registration records is recorded and delivered to the county board of elections.
(8)	The registration records are kept secure. The State Board of Elections shall permit the use of electronic registration records in the voting place in lieu of or in addition to a paper pollbook or other registration record.
(9)	Party observers are given access as provided by G.S. 163‑45 to current information about which voters have voted.
(10)	The voter, before voting, shall sign that voter's name on the pollbook, other voting record, or voter authorization document. If the voter is unable to sign, a precinct official shall enter the person's name on the same document before the voter votes."
SECTION 5.  G.S. 163‑182.1(b)(1) reads as rewritten:
"(1)	Provide for a sample hand‑to‑eye count of the paper ballots of a statewide ballot item in every county. The presidential ballot item shall be the subject of the sampling in a presidential election. If there is no statewide ballot item, the State Board shall provide a process for selecting district or local ballot items to adequately sample the electorate. The State Board shall approve in an open meeting the procedure for randomly selecting the sample precincts for each election. The random selection of precincts for any county shall be done publicly after the initial count of election returns for that county is publicly released or 24 hours after the polls close on election day, whichever is earlier. The sample chosen by the State Board shall be of one or more full precincts, full counts of mailed absentee ballots, full counts of one or more one‑stop early voting sites, or a combination. The size of the sample of each category shall be chosen to produce a statistically significant result and shall be chosen after consultation with a statistician. The actual units shall be chosen at random. In the event of a material discrepancy between the electronic or mechanical count and a hand‑to‑eye count, the hand‑to‑eye count shall control, except where paper ballots have been lost or destroyed or where there is another reasonable basis to conclude that the hand‑to‑eye count is not the true count. If the discrepancy between the hand‑to‑eye count and the mechanical or electronic count is significant, a complete hand‑to‑eye count shall be conducted."
SECTION 6.  G.S. 163‑182.2(b)(1a) reads as rewritten:
"(1a)	For optical scan and direct record electronic voting systems, and for any other voting systems in which ballots are counted other than on paper by hand and eye, those rules shall provide for a sample hand‑to‑eye count of the paper ballots of a sampling of a statewide ballot item in every county. The presidential ballot item shall be the subject of the sampling in a presidential election. If there is no statewide ballot item, the State Board shall provide a process for selecting district or local ballot items to adequately sample the electorate. The State Board shall approve in an open meeting the procedure for randomly selecting the sample precincts for each election. The random selection of precincts for any county shall be done publicly after the initial count of election returns for that county is publicly released or 24 hours after the polls close on election day, whichever is earlier. The sample chosen by the State Board shall be of one or more full precincts, full counts of mailed absentee ballots, and full counts of one or more one‑stop early voting sites. The size of the sample of each category shall be chosen to produce a statistically significant result and shall be chosen after consultation with a statistician. The actual units shall be chosen at random. In the event of a material discrepancy between the electronic or mechanical count and a hand‑to‑eye count, the hand‑to‑eye count shall control, except where paper ballots have been lost or destroyed or where there is another reasonable basis to conclude that the hand‑to‑eye count is not the true count. If the discrepancy between the hand‑to‑eye count and the mechanical or electronic count is significant, a complete hand‑to‑eye count shall be conducted. The sample count need not be done on election night."
SECTION 7.  G.S. 163‑227.2(e1) reads as rewritten:
"(e1)	If a county uses a voting system with retrievable ballots, that county's board of elections may by resolution elect to conduct one‑stop absentee voting according to the provisions of this subsection. In a county in which the board has opted to do so, a one‑stop voter shall cast the ballot and then shall deposit the ballot in the ballot box or voting system in the same manner as if such box or system was in use in a precinct on election day. At the end of each business day, or at any time when there will be no employee or officer of the board of elections on the premises, the ballot box or system shall be secured in accordance with a plan approved by the State Board of Elections, which shall include that no additional ballots have been placed in the box or system. Any county board desiring to conduct one‑stop voting according to this subsection shall submit a plan for doing so to the State Board of Elections. The State Board shall adopt standards for conducting one‑stop voting under this subsection and shall approve any county plan that adheres to its standards. The county board shall adhere to its State Board‑approved plan. The plan shall provide that each one‑stop ballot shall have a ballot number on it in accordance with G.S. 163‑230.1(a2), or shall have an equivalent identifier to allow for retrievability."
SECTION 8.  Any direct record electronic (DRE) voting systems currently certified by the State Board of Elections which do not use paper ballots shall be decertified and shall not be used in any election held on or after January 1, 2014. Decertification of a DRE voting system that does not use paper ballots may not be appealed to the Superior Court of Wake County pursuant to G.S. 163‑165.7(b).
SECTION 9.  Section 8 is effective when it becomes law. The remainder of this act becomes effective January 1, 2014, and applies to elections held on or after that date.