A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT authorizing the greene county board of elections to mail absentee ballots to all registered voters in a municipality or sanitary district in greene county upon adoption of a resolution by the municipality or sanitary district and to centralize polling locations for elections held on election day in 2019 and providing for the submission of voted absentee ballots by preaddressed envelopes, postage paid upon return, in greene county.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a)  Pilot Program. – Notwithstanding G.S. 163A‑1308(a), which requires a qualified voter to make a written request for an absentee ballot, or G.S. 163A‑1309, which relates to the validity of the written request, for elections held on November 5, 2019, the Greene County Board of Elections (Board) shall conduct a pilot program in which absentee ballots are mailed to all properly registered voters in a municipality or sanitary district in Greene County upon adoption of a resolution by the municipality or sanitary district.
SECTION 1.(b)  Procedure. – A municipality or sanitary district in Greene County shall adopt a resolution requesting that absentee ballots be mailed to the registered voters in that municipality or sanitary district. After adopting a resolution, the municipality or sanitary district shall submit a copy of the resolution to the Board requesting that absentee ballots be mailed to the registered voters in that municipality or sanitary district. Upon receipt of the resolution, the Board shall compile a list of the qualified registered voters in that municipality or sanitary district. Before mailing absentee ballots to the registered voters in the municipality or sanitary district, the Board shall send a notification to each registered voter in the municipality or sanitary district regarding the absentee ballot pilot program to verify the voter's address. If the notification to a registered voter in the municipality or sanitary district is returned as undeliverable, the Board shall not mail an absentee ballot to that address and the Board shall follow standard voting procedures with respect to that voter in accordance Chapter 163A of the General Statutes. If the notification is not returned as undeliverable, the Board shall mail the registered voter in the municipality or sanitary district an absentee ballot pursuant to this section. The Board shall otherwise comply with the requirements and procedures for absentee ballots under Article 21 of Chapter 163A of the General Statutes.
SECTION 1.(c)  Education. – The Board shall make reasonable efforts to educate the residents of Greene County about the absentee ballot pilot program established under this section.
SECTION 2.  Centralized Voting. – Upon mailing absentee ballots to the registered voters of a municipality or sanitary district in accordance with Section 1 of this act, the Board shall have the authority to establish a centralized voting place on election day, November 5, 2019. The Board shall otherwise comply with the requirements for precincts and voting places under Part 1 of Article 20 of Chapter 163A of the General Statutes.
SECTION 3.  G.S. 163A‑1310(b)(1) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	Transmitting Executed Absentee Ballots to County Board of Elections. – The sealed container‑return envelope in which executed absentee ballots have been placed shall be transmitted to the county board of elections who issued those ballots as follows:
(1)	All ballots issued under the provisions of this Part and Part 2 of Article 21 of this Chapter shall be transmitted by mail in the preaddressed envelope, postage paid upon return, or by commercial courier service or delivered in person, or by the voter's near relative or verifiable legal guardian and received by the county board not later than 5:00 p.m. on the day of the statewide primary or general election or county bond election. Ballots issued under the provisions of Part 2 of Article 21 of this Chapter may also be electronically transmitted."
SECTION 4.  This act applies to Greene County only.
SECTION 5.  This act is effective when it becomes law.