§ 163-88.1. Request for challenged ballot.
§ 163‑88.1. Request for challenged ballot.
(a) If the decision of the chief judge and judges pursuant toG.S. 163‑88 is to sustain the challenge, the challenged voter may requesta challenged ballot by submitting an application to the chief judge, such applicationshall include as part thereof an affidavit that such person possesses all thequalifications for voting and is entitled to vote at the election. The form ofsuch affidavit shall be prescribed by the State Board of Elections and shall beavailable at the polls.
(b) Any person requesting a challenged ballot shall have theletter "C" entered at the appropriate place on the voter's permanentregistration record. The voter's name shall be entered on a separate page inthe pollbook entitled "Challenged Ballot," and serially numbered. Thechallenged ballot shall be the same type of ballot used for absentee voters,and the chief judge shall write across the top of the ballot "ChallengedBallot #____," and shall insert the same serial number as entered in thepollbook. The chief judge shall deliver to such voter a challenged ballottogether with an envelope marked "Challenged Ballot" and seriallynumbered. The challenged voter shall forthwith mark the ballot in the presenceof the chief judge in such manner that the chief judge shall not know how theballot is marked. He shall then fold the ballot in the presence of the chiefjudge so as to conceal the markings and deposit and seal it in the seriallynumbered envelope. He shall then deliver such envelope to the chief judge. Thechief judge shall retain all such envelopes in an envelope provided by thecounty board of elections, which he shall seal immediately after the pollsclose, and deliver to the board chairman at the canvass.
(c) The chairman of the county board of elections shall preservesuch ballots in the sealed envelopes for a period of six months after theelection. However, in the case of a contested election, either party to suchaction may request the court to order that the sealed envelopes containingchallenged ballots be delivered to the board of elections by the chairman. Ifso ordered, the board of elections shall then convene and consider eachchallenged ballot and rule as to which ballots shall be counted. In suchconsideration, the board may take such further evidence as it deems necessary,and shall have the power of subpoena. If any ballots are ordered to be counted,they shall be added to the vote totals. (1979, c. 357, s. 3; 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 762, s. 28.)