Be an Absentee Meeting Observer

Q. Who can be an Absentee Meeting Observer in NC?
A. Any member of the public.

Q. Do I need to sign up ahead of time?
A. No. Just show up! Please read the information below so you know what you should be seeing (and not seeing) during the absentee meetings.

NC General Statute
§ 163-182.2. (3) Initial counting of official ballots. “ANY member of the public wishing to witness the vote count at any level shall be allowed to do so.”

How to Observe Absentee Meetings
dates: starts 5 weeks prior to election

COUNTY ABSENTEE MEETINGS (please check with counties for time/location)
Meetings happen each week, starting 5 weeks before the election. link for Wake BOE Absentee Meeting Schedule

What happens at Absentee Meetings?
NCSBE Numbered Memo: 2020-25 Legal Requirements for Absentee Meetings - please read prior to meeting

What to expect when you go to an Absentee Meeting:

PLEASE DO NOT DISRUPT THE PROCESS IN ANY WAY - There is generally some ‘down-time’ during the meeting when the board is just sitting and waiting for votes to be counted. In some counties board members answer questions during this time or will explain the process; some counties board members will not engage with the public at all.
Be courteous and respectful at all times.

• The Election Director (ED) for the county will present all the absentee ballot envelopes that have arrived at the county BOE. The ED should state the total number of mail-in ballots and UOCAVA ballots. The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act includes overseas and overseas-military ballots.

• The ED presents the absentee ballot envelopes to the 5 member Board, usually with recommendations on whether to accept, reject, or have the voter cure the ballot. The board members should inspect all the ballot envelopes or can designate bi-partisan teams to review the envelopes at the meeting in plain view of the public.

• UOCAVA ballots and ballots that have been damaged, have stray marks (coffee stains, tears, etc) may need to be “duplicated” in order to be scanned by the machine. County boards may adopt a policy to authorize a bipartisan team of staff members to duplicate ballots outside of an absentee board meeting and then have the board check and approve the duplicated ballots at the next Absentee Meeting. Only the duplicated ballot is counted - the original is “spoiled” and not counted.

• After absentee envelopes are approved by the board, every envelope should be stamped with “Approved” or BOE Chair may initial the ballot envelope (they can also designate to staff to initial). Alternatively, the board can sign a cover sheet containing a list of envelopes that were acted upon during the meeting and indicating whether those envelopes were approved or disapproved in lieu of signing the individual envelopes.

• The board may also review and approve/deny one-stop absentee applications.

• The board then votes on whether or not to approve/deny ballot envelopes. Any ballot that is “accepted” can either be opened-and-scanned at that meeting or the board can decide to hold the approved-and-unopened ballot envelopes at the BOE in a secure tamper-evident-serial-numbered container. The ballots can be opened-and-scanned at a later date. APPROVED BALLOTS THAT ARE OPENED AT THE MEETING MUST BE SCANNED AT THAT SAME MEETING ON THE SAME DAY IN FULL PUBLIC VIEW (no recessing meeting for a later date). Ballots are not to be opened and then held by the BOE without scanning them first.

• The board should record the count on the scanner at the start of AND and the end of each meeting. A zero tape or zero report should be printed and given to the board to sign. This is a public record and shall be shown to the public per 08 NCAC 04 .0304. —- please print this document and bring it with you in case the BOE is not aware of the public’s right to see the zero report or initial count (number of ballots that have been scanned) at the beginning of each absentee meeting.

• Ballots envelopes should be opened in full public view by bi-partisan team(s). The ballots should be separated from the ballot envelopes. Then the ballots should be scanned in full public view. This map shows what type of scanner each NC county uses. The map also shows how voters in each NC county mark their ballot. “Hand marked paper ballots, with ballot marking devices (BMD) for accessibility” aligns with election best practices. Counties that use “BMD’s for all voters” are spending MORE taxpayer money for a LESS secure election.

• After the ballots are scanned, the ED should report the total number of ballots scanned - this should match the number of ballots that were approved and opened at the meeting. The board should check (on the scanner screen) that these numbers match and sign off on the reconciliation log that is printed.

• After the ballots are scanned, they should be placed in a secure container with a serial-numbered-tamper-evident seal. The public should be told the serial number, so they can also keep track of the chain of custody of ballot containers. If the absentee ballots in a certain container are chosen for the audit, then these serial numbers should be verified by the board.

• The board may also conduct other business as election issues arise, like voting site issues, etc.

If you go to an Absentee Meeting and have questions that the BOE, ED, or staff were not able to answer, please email us at:
transparentelectionsNC(at)gmail.com with | <COUNTY NAME> Absentee Meeting | as the subject of the email - we will get back to you asap to help you understand the process or help guide you on potential avenues to get your questions answered or concerns addressed.

AUDIT + CANVASS + CERTIFICATION OF ELECTION
when: - (go online or call county BOE to confirm date/time)
where: county BOE buildings or warehouses
why: Audit of 2 samples + canvass + certification of election (random samples chosen the day after the election)
info: NC does a “batch hand-eye audit” for 2 samples/county and only for the top race on the ballot. This means that all the ballots will be counted by hand, in front of the public, for the samples that were randomly selected. Bi-partisan teams conduct the audit. A sample is either a precinct, early voting precinct or all absentee ballots. NCSBE conducted an (optional) risk-limiting audit pilot for some counties following the Nov 2020 election.

VOLUNTEER OBSERVER FORM: Audit/Canvass/Certification Meeting (form will be online here at 5/25)
Please bring your phone or computer to fill out the observer form so you can report your findings while you are at the meeting.

Anyone who goes to observe and fills out form will be invited to the Election Debrief Meeting.

Absentee Meetings
WHAT TO LOOK FOR:

1. Any ballot that is approved & opened MUST BE RUN THROUGH THE SCANNER AT THAT SAME MEETING (ON THE SAME DAY)
see Numbered Memo 2020-25.
2. Any scanned ballots must be put in a secure container with serial numbered tamper evident seals (NOT JUST SOME TAPE or STICKERS). Strict chain of custody is important and is part of best practices.
3. Board members should sign the tamper evident seals placed on secure containers and the public should keep track of those serial numbers in case those ballots are selected as part of the post-election audit.
4. Per 08 NCAC 04 .0304, BOE members should print and sign a “zero tape” or “zero printout” at each absentee meeting and show this to the public — this is a public record. The BOE are acting as the county precinct official for absentee meetings. There is no prohibition on photographing the zero tape/sheet at absentee meetings or at precincts during early voting since vote totals are not tabulated until election day.

*Photos/video are ONLY prohibited when voters are inside the voting enclosure because photographing a voted ballot or another voter while they are voting is prohibited by law.

08 NCAC 04 .0304
(a) Prior to the opening of the polls, the precinct officials shall open the voting system and examine the ballot for
accuracy and examine the counters or other method to determine there is a zero balance. Any persons interested in
viewing this procedure may observe but shall not interfere or impede the process. If the system prints a zero tape or
other paper document, the document shall be maintained and secured in the manner prescribed by the manufacturer
and the county board of elections.

Election Observation Opportunities

During a NC Election, there are plenty of opportunities to observe and even participate in the process (in addition to voting). Public observers are allowed to observe many parts of the process. The public is also allowed to help with the random selection of precincts that will be audited following the election — The “dice roll” will happen on May 18th at the State Board of Elections Office in Raleigh.

COUNTY ABSENTEE MEETINGS (please check with counties for time/location)
These are happening each week in every county. link for Wake BOE Absentee Meeting Schedule

VOLUNTEER OBSERVER FORM: Absentee Meetings (will go live next week)
Absentee meeting = absentee ballot approval/denial, opening + scanning ballots + board business
Please bring your phone or computer to fill out the observer form so you can report your findings while you are at the meeting.
Counties usually have public comment available. See the list of topics that need to be addressed with all NC County BOEs (coming soon).

ELECTION DAY + ELECTION NIGHT MEETINGS (there are 2 BOE meetings on election day)
Meeting #1: County BOE Election Day Meeting (please check with counties for time/location)
when: 2:00pm (or later)
where: county BOE buildings or warehouses (go online or call your BOE to confirm)
why: BOE will be counting the early and absentee votes + printing poll tapes
info: It is legal for counties to tally early and absentee votes beginning at 2pm on election day. The board/staff will see the results at that time but are sworn to secrecy until results are announced on election night.

VOLUNTEER OBSERVER FORM: Election Day Meeting (coming soon)
Please bring your phone or computer to fill out the observer form so you can report your findings while you are at the meeting.

Meeting #2: ALL County BOEs on Election Night
when: 7:30pm
where: ALL county BOE buildings or warehouses
why: vote count at county level, transfer of ballots, digital vote totals, voting machines, inventory of election materials, etc. received from Precinct Judge
info: Wake will not allow the public to observe on election night! They cite “security” reasons and that “they don’t want to set a precedent.” Blog post (coming soon) from TENC Director regarding being threatened on Primary Election night 2020!

VOLUNTEER OBSERVER FORM: Election Night Meeting (coming soon)
Please bring your phone or computer to fill out the observer form so you can report your findings while you are at the meeting.

RANDOM SELECTION OF PRECINCTS TO BE AUDITED (for the post-election audit)
when: call NCSBE phone, 919-814-0700
where: in-person: Dobbs Building, 430 N Salisbury St, 3rd floor, Raleigh 27603 map
on-line at: NCSBE Facebook page
why: The General Statutes state that the sample to be audited needs to be selected by a random process
info: NCSBE’s current process is fully transparent and the public can verify the randomness of this process. Although the precincts are selected at random the day after the election, counties do not perform the audit until about a week later. Best practices would be to choose samples immediately preceding the audit.

AUDIT + CANVASS + CERTIFICATION OF ELECTION
when: - (go online or call county BOE to confirm date/time)
where: county BOE buildings or warehouses
why: Audit of 2 samples + canvass + certification of election (random samples chosen the day after the election)
info: NC does a “batch hand-eye audit” for 2 samples/county and only for the top race on the ballot. This means that all the ballots will be counted by hand, in front of the public, for the samples that were randomly selected. Bi-partisan teams conduct the audit. A sample is either a precinct, early voting precinct or all absentee ballots. NCSBE conducted an (optional) risk-limiting audit pilot for some counties following the Nov 2020 election.

VOLUNTEER OBSERVER FORM: Audit/Canvass/Certification Meeting (coming soon)
Please bring your phone or computer to fill out the observer form so you can report your findings while you are at the meeting.