Poll observers may play greater role in NC in 2024
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – With in-person early voting underway in North Carolina, new laws are in place impacting the process, including who can observe what happens at polling sites and what they’re allowed to do.
The new law gives greater latitude to partisan poll observers to move about polling places and allows them to enter and leave those sites more easily.
The state has updated its guidance for observers here.
Republicans enacted the changes after overriding Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the bill. That new law also moved up the deadline for mail-in ballots to Election Day and changed the verification process for people who register and vote on the same day during the early voting period.
Cooper decried the bill at the time as making “it harder for people, especially young people, college students away from home and people of color to vote and for their votes to count.”
During the debate over the bill, some critics voiced concerns about the role of the observers. While the observers can provide more transparency by witnessing how the election is conducted, there was also the potential for greater disruption at polling sites, they said.
House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) said last week, “Ultimately, the elections officials have control over the voting sites. So, if someone is there being disruptive or threatening or something like that, then that can be dealt with. But, if someone is there doing their job or pointing out where there’s an issue, they ought to be able to do that.”
Supporters of the new law said the greater freedom for observers to enter and exit polling sites may make it easier for the parties to recruit people to work as observers. There had been requirements in place regarding the number of hours an observer had to stay at one site before they could be replaced by another person.
Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the NC State Board of Elections, told reporters there are some key things voters and observers need to know about their role and the limits they have.
Political parties have to appoint observers in advance, as they are the only ones allowed inside a polling site. While observers can move about once inside, they cannot disrupt the process or interfere with a voter’s privacy. No more than three observers from the same political party can be inside a polling place at one time.
“So, they will overhear some conversation,” said Brinson Bell. “But, if it is a conversation that requires the disclosure of personal identifying information, for example, then they are restricted from being part of that conversation.”
She also said an observer is not allowed to be close enough to see how a voter marks their ballot. Observers are allowed to take notes. They are not allowed to take pictures or videos of a voter without the permission of the voter and the chief judge at the election site.
Observers have to wear a badge so people can identify them.
“So, an observer is not to interfere. They are not to communicate with voters. They are there to observe,” said Brinson Bell. “There are limitations. A poll worker is able to assist a voter if they so choose with their ballot, but an observer cannot.”
In-person early voting will continue through Mar. 2. Primary day is Mar. 5.
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