§ 163-22. Powers and duties of State Board of Elections.
§ 163‑22. Powers andduties of State Board of Elections.
(a) The State Board ofElections shall have general supervision over the primaries and elections inthe State, and it shall have authority to make such reasonable rules andregulations with respect to the conduct of primaries and elections as it maydeem advisable so long as they do not conflict with any provisions of thisChapter.
(b) From time to time,the Board shall publish and furnish to the county and municipal boards ofelections and other election officials a sufficient number of indexed copies ofall election laws and Board rules and regulations then in force. It shall alsopublish, issue, and distribute to the electorate such materials explanatory ofprimary and election laws and procedures as the Board shall deem necessary.
(c) The State Board ofElections shall appoint, in the manner provided by law, all members of thecounty boards of elections and advise them and municipal elections boardmembers as to the proper methods of conducting primaries and elections. TheBoard shall require such reports from the county and municipal boards andelection officers as are provided by law, or as are deemed necessary by theBoard, and shall compel observance of the requirements of the election laws bycounty and municipal boards of elections and other election officers. Inperforming these duties, the Board shall have the right to hear and act oncomplaints arising by petition or otherwise, on the failure or neglect of acounty or municipal board of elections to comply with any part of the electionlaws imposing duties upon such a board. The State Board of Elections shall havepower to remove from office any member of a county or municipal board ofelections for incompetency, neglect or failure to perform duties, fraud, or forany other satisfactory cause. Before exercising this power, the State Boardshall notify the county or municipal board member affected and give him anopportunity to be heard. When any county board member shall be removed by theState Board of Elections, the vacancy occurring shall be filled by the StateBoard of Elections. When any municipal board member shall be removed by theState Board of Elections, the vacancy occurring shall be filled by the citycouncil of the city appointing members of that board.
(d) The State Board ofElections shall investigate when necessary or advisable, the administration ofelection laws, frauds and irregularities in elections in any county andmunicipality and special district, and shall report violations of the electionlaws to the Attorney General or district attorney or prosecutor of the districtfor further investigation and prosecution.
(e) The State Board ofElections shall determine, in the manner provided by law, the form and contentof ballots, instruction sheets, pollbooks, tally sheets, abstract and returnforms, certificates of election, and other forms to be used in primaries andelections. The Board shall furnish to the county boards of elections theregistration application forms required pursuant to G.S. 163‑82.3. TheState Board of Elections shall direct the county boards of elections topurchase a sufficient quantity of all forms attendant to the registration andelections process. In addition, the State Board shall provide a source of supplyfrom which the county boards of elections may purchase the quantity ofpollbooks needed for the execution of its responsibilities. In the preparationof ballots, pollbooks, abstract and return forms, and all other forms, theState Board of Elections may call to its aid the Attorney General of the State,and it shall be the duty of the Attorney General to advise and aid in thepreparation of these books, ballots and forms.
(f) The State Board ofElections shall prepare, print, distribute to the county and municipal boardsof elections all ballots for use in any primary or election held in the Statewhich the law provides shall be printed and furnished by the State to thecounties. The Board shall instruct the county boards of elections as to theprinting of county and local ballots.
(g) The State Board ofElections shall certify to the appropriate county boards of elections the namesof candidates for district offices who have filed notice of candidacy with theBoard and whose names are required to be printed on county ballots.
(h) It shall be theduty of the State Board of Elections to tabulate the primary and electionreturns, to declare the results, and to prepare abstracts of the votes cast ineach county in the State for offices which, according to law, shall betabulated by the Board.
(i) The State Board ofElections shall make recommendations to the Governor and legislature relativeto the conduct and administration of the primaries and elections in the Stateas it may deem advisable.
(j) Notwithstandingthe provisions of any other section of this Chapter, the State Board ofElections is empowered to have access to any ballot boxes and their contents,any voting machines and their contents, any registration records, pollbooks,voter authorization cards or voter lists, any lists of absentee voters, anylists of presidential registrants under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 asamended, and any other voting equipment or similar records, books or lists inany precinct, county, municipality or electoral district over whose electionsit has jurisdiction or for whose elections it has responsibility.
(k) Notwithstanding theprovisions contained in Article 20 or Article 21 of Chapter 163 the State Boardof Elections shall be authorized, by resolution adopted prior to the printingof the primary ballots, to reduce the time by which absentee ballots arerequired to be printed and distributed for the primary election from 50 days to45 days. This authority shall not be authorized for absentee ballots to bevoted in the general election, except if the law requires ballots to beavailable for mailing 60 days before the general election, and they are notready by that date, the State Board of Elections shall allow the counties tomail them out as soon as they are available.
(l) Notwithstandingany other provision of law, in order to obtain judicial review of any decisionof the State Board of Elections rendered in the performance of its duties or inthe exercise of its powers under this Chapter, the person seeking review mustfile his petition in the Superior Court of Wake County.
(m) Repealed by SessionLaws 2001‑398, s. 4, effective January 1, 2002.
(n) The State Board ofElections shall provide specific training to county boards of electionsregarding rules for registering students.
(o) The State Board ofElections shall promulgate minimum requirements for the number of pollbooks,voting machines and curbside ballots to be available at each precinct, suchthat more of such will be available at general elections and a sufficientnumber will be available to allow voting without excessive delay. The StateBoard of Elections shall provide for a training and screening program for chiefjudges and judges. The State Board of Elections shall provide additionaltesting of voting machines to ensure that they operate properly even withcomplicated ballots.
(p) The State Board ofElections shall require counties with voting systems to have sufficientpersonnel available on election day with technical expertise to make repairs insuch equipment, to investigate election day problems, and assist in curbsidevoting.
(q) The State Board ofElections may assign responsibility for enumerated administrative matters tothe Executive Director by resolution, if that resolution provides a process forthe State Board to review any administrative decision made by the ExecutiveDirector. (1901,c. 89, ss. 7, 11; Rev., ss. 4302, 4305; 1913, c. 138; C.S., ss. 5923, 5926;1921, c. 181, s. 1; 1923, c. 196; 1933, c. 165, ss. 1, 2; 1945, c. 982; 1953,c. 410, s. 2; 1967, c. 775, s. 1; 1973, c. 47, s. 2; c. 793, s. 2; 1975, c. 19,s. 65; 1977, c. 661, s. 6; 1979, c. 411, s. 1; 1981, c. 556; 1985 (Reg. Sess.,1986), c. 986, ss. 2, 3; 1987, c. 485, ss. 2, 5; c. 509, s. 9; c. 642, s. 3;1989, c. 635, s. 5; 1991, c. 727, ss. 5.2, 7; 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 762,s. 12; 1995, c. 509, s. 114; 1999‑424, s. 7(a); 2001‑398, s. 4;2009‑537, s. 10; 2009‑541, s. 1.)