Action Alert! NC State Board of Elections Oversteps S747 on Poll Obseervers. Email the Rules Review Commission to reign them in.

The Rules Review Commission staff has completed its review of this Rule prior to the Commission's next meeting. The Commission has not yet reviewed this Rule and therefore there has not been a determination as to whether the Rule will be approved. You may email [email protected] the reviewing attorney to inquire concerning the staff recommendation. The newly proposed temporary Rules for Poll Observer Challenges, Appeal of Removal and Identification of Observers at Voting Sites were poorly developed and merit our mass comments. Please comment on the temporary Rules by January 30, 2024, 5pm by emailing: [email protected] and [email protected] Identify your comments by the three sections. Use the comments provided below by NCEIT to object to the temporary Rules. Please use your own words. Comments need to come from YOU as an individual otherwise they treat duplicate comments as one comment.

Proposed Rule- 08 NCAC 20 .0101 (Challenge to the Appointment of an Observer) *Inappropriately consolidates the challenge rule for Board of Election members and Judges into one rule instead of separate rules with unique procedures for each * The rule fails to articulate what constitutes specific reasonable grounds for challenging a poll observer’s appointment as outlined in § 163-45.1 (f) of S.L. 2023-140. * For a challenge hearing to follow due process and to comport with the intent of § 163-45.1 (c), the hearing must be convened in advance of the scheduled period of poll observation service. *The rule fails to establish criterion for Boards of Election to use in adjudicating challenges and fails to indicate whether a unanimous vote or a majority vote is required to uphold the challenge. * It seems appropriate for the NCSBE only to adjudicate appeals of challenges to state party- or statewide candidate-appointed poll observers. Appeals from county level are superfluous. *The proposed rule lacks discussion of permanent or persistent challenge of a poll observer; nor are there any criteria for preventing a challenged poll observer from returning for poll observer duties on a subsequent day or at an alternative site during the same election cycle.

Proposed Rule- 08 NCAC 20 .0102 (Appeal of Removal of an Observer from a Voting Site) *The removal of an appointed poll observer is a serious step that potentially leaves a party or candidate blind to the activities inside a voting enclosure. *This rule should prescribe an escalation process that serves due process and maintains election integrity. *The rule should first establish a process for an informal hearing by all three judges present to prevent partisan influence on the decision to expel an observer, short of law enforcement action (which is always an option at the discretion of the Chief Judge). *The appointing authority should be noticed the poll observer has allegedly violated statutory guidelines and will be subject to an immediate informal hearing in or near the voting enclosure, away from the voting process. * If all three judges at a precinct or early voting site concur that removal is the appropriate recourse, then the local appointing authority should be afforded the ability to replace the observer. *If a ruling is not unanimous to remove an observer during the informal hearing, the observer should be allowed to remain on-site, subject to close observation by the judges. * If a poll observer is removed during the hearing, a written record of the removal should be documented, signed off by all judges at the voting site, with a copy provided to the appointing authority. * Appeals of a poll observer’s removal past beyond the informal hearing are fruitless in that the removal has already occurred and cannot be timely reversed. *At early voting sites located within the local Election Office, where there are no judges present, the challenge of a poll observer should come from the Site Administrator, member of the Elections Office, or a member of the Board of Elections. *In poll observer challenges at BOE Early Voting sites, the informal hearing should be adjudicated by the Site Administrator, a senior member of the Elections Office, and one member of the local Board of Elections, available on-call for such purposes. *Nowhere in the statute is there discussion of the possibility for permanent or indefinite removal of a poll observer; nor are there any criteria in thye statute for preventing a removed poll observer from returning for poll observer duties on a subsequent day or at an alternative site during the same election cycle. *The proposed rule should prescribe any criteria that would prevent a removed poll observer from being rescheduled for subsequent duties. (There is little doubt that candidates or political parties will seek to reinstate any removed poll observers as soon as possible. Volunteers are difficult to fund and recruit.) *NCSBE should consider setting a threshold of “law enforcement action taken” or “conviction of election violation” as being standards for indefinite or permanent removal of a poll observer. *Just because a person was challenged for removal on one occasion is not justified grounds for his removal for the duration of an election cycle. What if a person was removed because of the party's failure to be properly appoint him to serve the first time. Or what if a person is removed because of a disruptive hacking cough one day, but is healthy for his next scheduled duty?

Proposed Rule- 08 NCAC 20 .0103 (Identification of Observers) *The statute clearly indicates the Chief Judge may use reasonable methods to verify the identity of individuals appearing at the voting place to serve as an observer; but the verification of identity process ends when the observer has produced a valid ID upon arrival. *There should be no requirement for the poll observer to identify his or her name or political party in a manner visible to voters within the voting enclosure. Doing so makes the PO vulnerable to targeting by opposing partisans for political gain. *This rule should be deleted as the statute is already clear that Poll Observers are to be identified only by their position or role in the voting enclosure- not by their name or political party.

----------------------------------------- Please comment on the temporary Rules by January 30, 2024, 5pm by emailing: [email protected] and [email protected]. Identify your comments by the three sections above. Remember, use your own words.

You can attend the RULES REVIEW COMMISSION MEETING Wednesday, January 31, 2024 at 10:00 A.M. to 5 pm In person at 1711 New Hope Church Rd., Raleigh, NC 27609 or by Zoom link below. [link removed] Event Password: 1234 Audio Conference: +1-415-655-0003 Access code: 2432 711 5806 See more details here [link removed]

----------------------------------------------- Links to the 3 proposed temporary rules are below, if you would like to review them: Challenge to the Appointment of an Observer (08 NCAC 20 .0101) ([link removed]) describes the process for county boards of elections to hear challenges to an observer for good cause, and for appeals of those challenge decisions. Appeal of Removal of an Observer from a Voting Site (08 NCAC 20 .0102) ([link removed]) describes the process for the party that appointed an observer to appeal the removal of an observer from a voting site. Identification of Observers (08 NCAC 20 .0103) ([link removed]) requires every observer serving at a voting site to wear an identification tag to inform voters and election officials of the observer's role in the voting place.

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