A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to limit who can assist certain voters with absentee ballots and require verification of address when the address of a voter requesting an absentee ballot differs from the residence address listed in the voter's county of registration.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 163A‑1295(e) is repealed.
SECTION 2.  G.S. 163A‑1298 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163A‑1298.  Certain acts declared felonies.
(a)	Any person who shall, in connection with absentee voting in any election held in this State, do any of the acts or things declared in this section to be unlawful, shall be guilty of a Class I felony. It shall be unlawful:
(1)	For any person except a person working as part of a multipartisan team to assist the voter to vote an absentee ballot when the voter is voting an absentee ballot other than under the procedure described in G.S. 163A‑1300, 163A‑1301, 163A‑1302, 163A‑1303, and 163A‑1304.
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(4)	For any owner, manager, director, employee, or other person, other than a person working as part of a multipartisan team, to (i) make a written request pursuant to G.S. 163A‑1308 or (ii) sign an application or certificate as a witness, on behalf of a registered voter, who is a patient in any hospital, clinic, nursing home or rest home in this State or for any owner, manager, director, employee, or other person other than a person working as part of a multipartisan team, to mark the voter's absentee ballot or assist such a voter in marking an absentee ballot. If a multipartisan team is not available to assist the voter within seven calendar days of a telephonic request to the county board of elections, the voter shall contact the county board of elections for further assistance. No person, other than a person working as a member of a multipartisan team, may sign the application or certificate as a witness for the patient.
(5)	For any person to take into that person's possession for delivery to a voter or for return to a county board of elections the absentee ballot of any voter, provided, however, that this prohibition shall not apply to a multipartisan team assisting a voter in accordance with this Part.
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(a1)	For purposes of this section, a "multipartisan team" includes members, employees, or volunteers working as part of a team trained and authorized by the county board of elections to assist voters with absentee ballots. Each county board of elections shall train and authorize multipartisan teams, pursuant to procedures adopted by the State Board.
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SECTION 3.  G.S. 163A‑1306 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163A‑1306.  Register of absentee requests, applications, and ballots issued; a public record.
The State Board shall approve an official register in which the county board of elections in each county of the State shall record the following information:
(1)	Name of voter for whom application and ballots are being requested.
(2)	Number of assigned voter's application when issued.
(3)	Precinct in which applicant is registered.
(4)	Address to which ballots are to be mailed or, if the voter voted pursuant to G.S. 163A‑1300, 163A‑1301, 163A‑1302, 163A‑1303, and 163A‑1304, a notation of that fact. If the address is different from the residence address of the voter, the voter shall provide to the county board of elections the address where the voter will temporarily reside so that the county board of elections can verify the address. A county board of elections shall establish procedures for verifying out‑of‑county addresses pursuant to this section, in accordance with approval of the State Board.
(5)	Date request for application for ballots is received by the county board of elections.
(6)	The voter's party affiliation.
(7)	The date the ballots were mailed or delivered to the voter.
(8)	Whatever additional information and official action may be required by this Part.
The State Board may provide for the register to be kept by electronic data processing equipment, and a copy shall be printed out each business day or a supplement printed out each business day of new information.
The register of absentee requests, applications and ballots issued shall constitute a public record and shall be opened to the inspection of any registered voter of the county within 60 days before and 30 days after an election in which absentee ballots were authorized, or at any other time when good and sufficient reason may be assigned for its inspection."
SECTION 4.  G.S. 163A‑1308 reads as rewritten:
"§ 163A‑1308.  Simultaneous issuance of absentee ballots with application.
(a)	A qualified voter who desires to vote by absentee ballot, or a member of a multipartisan team upon the request of a qualified voter needing assistance, shall complete a request form for an absentee application and absentee ballots so that the county board of elections receives that completed request form not later than 5:00 P.M. on the Tuesday before the election. That completed written request form shall be in compliance with G.S. 163A‑1309. The county board of elections shall enter in the register of absentee requests, applications, and ballots issued the information required in G.S. 163A‑1306 as soon as each item of that information becomes available. Upon receiving the completed request form, the county board of elections shall cause to be mailed to that voter a single package that includes all of the following:
(1)	The official ballots that voter is entitled to vote.
(2)	A container‑return envelope for the ballots, printed in accordance with G.S. 163A‑1307.
(3)	An instruction sheet.
The ballots, envelope, and instructions shall be mailed to the voter by the county board's chairman, member, officer, or employee as determined by the board and entered in the register as provided by this Part.
(b)	Absence for Sickness or Physical Disability. – Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, if a voter expects to be unable to go to the voting place to vote in person on election day because of that voter's sickness or other physical disability, that voter ora member of a multipartisan team may make the request under subsection (a) of this section in person to the board of elections of the county in which the voter is registered after 5:00 p.m. on the Tuesday before the election but not later than 5:00 p.m. on the day before the election. The county board of elections shall treat that completed request form in the same manner as a request under subsection (a) of this section but may personally deliver the application and ballots to the voter.
(c)	Delivery of Absentee Ballots and Container‑Return Envelope to Applicant. – When the county board of elections receives a completed request form for applications and absentee ballots, the board shall promptly issue and transmit them to the voter in accordance with the following instructions:
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(3)	The chair, member, officer, or employee of the board of elections shall then place the unsealed container‑return envelope holding the ballots together with printed instructions for voting and returning the ballots, in an envelope addressed to the voter at the post office address stated in the request, seal the envelope, and mail it at the expense of the county board of elections: Provided, that in case of a request received after 5:00 p.m. on the Tuesday before the election under the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, in lieu of transmitting the ballots to the voter in person or by mail, the chair, member, officer, or employee of the board of elections or member of a multipartisan team may deliver the sealed envelope containing the instruction sheet and the container‑return envelope holding the ballots to the voter.
The county board of elections may receive completed written request forms for applications at any time prior to the election but shall not mail applications and ballots to the voter or issue applications and ballots in person earlier than 60 days prior to the statewide general election in an even‑numbered year, or earlier than 50 days prior to any other election, except as provided in G.S. 163A‑1300, 163A‑1301, 163A‑1302, 163A‑1303, and 163A‑1304. No election official shall issue applications for absentee ballots except in compliance with this Part.
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SECTION 5.  G.S. 163A‑1309(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Valid Types of Written Requests. – A completed written request form for an absentee ballot as required by G.S. 163A‑1308 is valid only if it is on a form created by the State Board and signed by the voter requesting absentee ballots or a member of a multipartisan team assisting the voter in completing the request. The State Board shall make the form available at its offices, online, and in each county board of elections office, and that form may be reproduced. A voter may make a request in person or by writing to the county board for the form to request an absentee ballot. The request form for an absentee ballot shall require at least the following information:
(1)	The name and address of the residence of the voter.
(2)	The name and address of the voter's near relative or verifiable legal guardian if that individual is making the request.
(3)	The address of the voter to which the application and absentee ballots are to be mailed if different from the residence address of the voter, with verification of the address by the county board of elections.
(4)	One or more of the following in the order of preference:
a.	The number of the voter's North Carolina drivers license issued under Article 2 of Chapter 20 of the General Statutes, including a learner's permit or a provisional license.
b.	The number of the voter's special identification card for nonoperators issued under G.S. 20‑37.7.
c.	The last four digits of the applicant's social security number.
(5)	The voter's date of birth.
(6)	The signature of the voter or of a member of the multipartisan team if that individual is making the request on behalf of the voter."
SECTION 6.  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 or by commercial courier service, at the voter's expense, or delivered in person, or by the member of the multipartisan team providing assistance 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 7.  G.S. 163A‑1317(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	Candidate Witnessing Absentee Ballots of Nonrelative Made Class 2 Misdemeanor. – A person is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor if that person acts as a witness under G.S. 163A‑1310(a) in any primary or election in which the person is a candidate for nomination or election, unless the voter is the candidate's near relative. For the purpose of this subsection, "near relative" means spouse, brother, sister, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, mother‑in‑law, father‑in‑law, daughter‑in‑law, son‑in‑law, stepparent, or stepchild."
SECTION 8.  The North Carolina State Board of Elections and county boards of elections shall take any steps needed to establish policies and procedures and to update information, forms, and State and local Web sites relating to implementing the provisions of this act.
SECTION 9.  This act becomes effective January 1, 2020, and applies to elections held on or after that date.