Board of Elections’ Good Guidance on Observers | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the John Locke Foundation. The author of this post is Dr. Andy Jackson.

    After several years of seeking to restrict election observers, the North Carolina State Board of Elections (SBE) has issued good guidance to county elections boards about observers. Election observers are appointed by their political parties to watch the voting process at early voting sites and election day precinct polling places and report any irregularities.

    The guidance came from Numbered Memo 2022-14, issued on October 18. The SBE issues numbered memos to county boards to instruct them on election procedures.

    Unlike statutes passed by the general assembly and regulations approved through the SBE and the Rules Review Commission, numbered memos do not carry the force of law. They often point to supporting laws or regulations, however.

    Good Guidance on the Opening Day of Early Voting

    The first good guidance is that members of the public (including observers) must be allowed to see the opening procedures at both election-day polling places and on the first day of one-stop (early) voting:

    Members of the public, including party-appointed observers, are permitted to view certain procedures when the voting system is being prepared before the opening of the polls, both on the morning of the first day of one-stop early voting and on Election Day morning.

    That guidance is incomplete, however. It does not tell county election boards to make the opening procedures of every day of one-stop voting open to the public. That is something that may have to be corrected through legislation.

    Good Guidance on Making Results Tapes Public

    The second good guidance from the SBE in the memo is that county boards should make absentee (early and mail) tabulator results tapes publicly available.

    The one exception is for a physical copy of the results tapes, which we recommend to be posted at the precinct voting site upon the completion of the vote count on Election Day. It is a good practice to also post absentee tabulator results tapes for inspection at the county board office in a similar fashion. Any member of the public is permitted to photograph or video any posted results tapes-when the tapes are posted, the counting process is no longer ongoing. [emphasis added]

    County boards tabulate one-stop ballots on the afternoon of election day and tabulate mail ballots starting five weeks before election day. Those tabulations are public. However, the tapes and their data cannot be made public until after polls close on election day.

    Not all counties allow the public to view those tabulation tapes. In Wake County, for example, the tabulation tapes are not available for public viewing, and "the public is prevented from entering the building on election night."

    County election boards should follow the SBE's advice and make one-stop and mail tabulation tapes publicly available on election night.
Go Back


Leave a Guest Comment

Your Name or Alias
Your Email Address ( your email address will not be published)
Enter Your Comment ( no code or urls allowed, text only please )




Polls open across N.C. for 2022 midterm elections An Essential Education, John Locke Foundation Guest Editorial, Editorials, Community, School News, Op-Ed & Politics Policy Pizza: The Significant Center for Food, Power, and Life.


HbAD0

Latest Op-Ed & Politics

Like many other states, the North Carolina has received a lot of money from the federal government to address the impacts of the corona virus pandemic.
A local wife began training to join her regional women's hockey team when she discovered the grand prize for winners of the National Hockey League is a Stanley Cup.
it is time to prosecture them for election interference
A Chinese national was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after the bust of a massive marijuana operation in rural south Georgia last week.
Felon voting advocates argue in a new court filing that North Carolina's new election law should have no impact on their federal lawsuit.
That is one that was stopped how many weren't stopped
The game show “Jeopardy!,” in which gives contestants must give answers in the form of a question, embraced the woke agenda by including so-called “neo-pronouns” as an answer.

HbAD1

City employing all-of-government effort aimed at finding work for illegal immigrants, emails indicate
Embattled former New York Congressman George Santos has landed on his feet following his ouster from the U.S. House of Representatives, with the announcement that he has been hired as a fact-checker at The New York Times.
Former President Donald Trump won Michigan’s Republican Party presidential primary on Tuesday night, beating former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley by more than 30 points.
New York City Democrat Mayor Eric Adams said this week that illegal alien crime in the city is getting so bad, officials need to look at modifying the city’s sanctuary status so that local law enforcement can cooperate with federal immigration officials to deport violent criminals.
On Thursday, Nov. 2, a group of protesters blocked the Durham Freeway (NC-147), the main artery through Durham and a major connector for the Research Triangle area, during rush hour.
The Tennessee state House passed a bill on Monday that would prohibit the flying of any flag other than the American flag and a few other official flags in public school classrooms, legislation that was sparked by the prevalence of pride flags in recent years.
The Democrat Party remains fractured under Joe Biden. In recent days, the embarrassments of Super Tuesday have continued.

HbAD2

 
Back to Top