§ 163-234. Counting absentee ballots by county BOE.
(2)The count shall be continuous until completed and the members shall not separate or leave the counting place except for unavoidable necessity, except that if the count has been completed prior to the time...
(2)The count shall be continuous until completed and the members shall not separate or leave the counting place except for unavoidable necessity, except that if the count has been completed prior to the time...
the polls close, it shall be suspended until that time pending receipt of any additional ballots.
They can suspend UNTIL they get more ballots. This doesn't say they can stop the process in the middle with open ballots in a warehouse with no outside oversight.
They can suspend UNTIL they get more ballots. This doesn't say they can stop the process in the middle with open ballots in a warehouse with no outside oversight.
§ 163-234. Counting absentee ballots by county BOE.(3)...a county BOE may, at each meeting at which it approves absentee ballot applications ... remove those ballots from their envelopes & have them read by an optical scanning machine, without printing the totals...
It doesn't give the authority to hold opened, voted ballots without oversight. Our high-speed county tabulators are designed for creased ballots. Wake BOE processed about 2K ballots continuously on 3/12 with no issues. This excuse of having to "press" the ballots is ridiculous.
Newly enacted laws will mean that counties repeat this process for 5 weeks! NC counties must follow the law and process our absentee ballots in a continuous process. It is estimated that 40% of North Carolinians will vote absentee my mail this election.
I do not have an issue with processing the large volume of ABM ahead of the election. I DO have a problem if that process isn't continuous and my ballot is sitting in a warehouse for a week rather than being put in the tabulator as soon as it's opened in full view of the public.
