Board of Elections will meet regularly on Tuesdays during early voting. Call and get the email notification. We all need to be there to witness the opening of the absentee ballots during early voting and election day. We need to request the containers/envelopes. They will deny us. Make a Public Records Request.
Why do we need them?
You need to compare the names and addresses to folks YOU have put on a watch list from your canvassing. If you find a name on an envelope that no longer lives at an address you canvassed, you then have a right to challenge that vote. We then have to file a Public Records Request to get the envelopes/container.
Our Authority: See Numbered Memo 2025, pg 9 & 10. file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/Numbered%20Memo%202020-25_Absentee%20Board%20Meetings.pdf
This is pg 9 - 10. Public Records Requests for Envelopes
Some county boards may have received public records requests for absentee ballot return envelopes. Ballot return envelopes are public records under North Carolina's Public Records Act, with exceptions for voter signature and CIV number. (17) Public records requests should not be fulfilled during a board meeting, but must be fulfilled as promptly as possible.
Providing Copies of Envelopes Prior to providing a copy of the envelope to the requestor, the voter signature and CIV number must be redacted, as the number links the envelope to a particular voter's ballot. Witness or assistant information may not be redacted. To redact the voter signature and CIV number, you may copy the envelope, mark through the confidential information on the copy, and then copy it again. Some counties have used a cardboard or other thick paper cutout to cover the confidential information when making a copy. Digital copies may also be provided using a template redaction tool in Adobe. Viewing Envelopes Unredacted envelopes may be viewed by the public in your office, though no copy, photo, or tracing may be made. A county board must ensure that the requestor is monitored while reviewing the envelopes in the office to ensure the voter’s signature is not retained. Absentee ballot return envelopes contain an identifier that is linked to the ballot, so this identifier must also be redacted from public view to protect the secrecy of the ballot.
17 G.S. 132-1.2(4), 163-82.10(a), 163-165.1(e). See also Numbered Memo 2016-25.
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THIS IS THE FORM LETTER FOR THE PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST HERE
I'm getting really bad stories from other counties who are being denied even being in the same room when the absentee ballots are being opened. They are also experiencing the 'barrier' issue. We must fight them with the election law. It is important that you go up on SEIRS after this meeting and report what you saw, heard, and any resolution (or none).
SEIRS has a tab for Board of Elections.
This is our evidence and affidavit we take to our lawmakers and attorneys. Remember, you can go back and edit and comment. Total transparency on SEIRS.
PLEASE REMEMBER
Be Polite.
Keep you head and keep your cool.
Don't lose your temper. We lose if you do.
Write it up and send. It's our evidence.
We will win this because we're right!
Collect the evidence.
Please, make no mistake about it, these people have never been held accountable until now. They will fight us every step of the way and we must fight back. We will win this war. Just stay the course. This is the opening salvo. Buckle up!
