Art. 13. - Clarifying town election laws.

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

Section 1. In all elections hereafter held for the election of officers of the Town of Sanford, North Carolina, any elector who may be absent from the Town of Sanford, or who is physically unable to attend at the polling place for the purpose of voting in person shall be allowed to vote as hereinafter provided. When an elector desires to vote by absentee ballot because of his absence from the Town on the day of election he shall use the absentee certificate "A" hereinafter provided for. He shall sign the certificate before an officer authorized to administer oaths, and if such officer have an official seal, he shall attach the seal of his office, enclose the certificate with the ballots which he wishes to vote in a return envelope provided therefor, and mail or send the same to the registrar of the ward in which he is entitled to vote. An elector who is physically unable to attend the polling place on the day of election who desires to vote by absentee ballot shall use the absentee certificate "B" hereinafter provided for. He shall furnish the certificate of a physician that he is physically unable to attend the regular polling place, or his own affidavit to that effect. He shall enclose this certificate with the ballots which he wishes to vote in a return envelope provided therefor, and shall mail or send the same to the registrar of the ward in which he is entitled to vote. In all cases the absentee certificate must be accompanied by the voters' ballots, and the ballots must bear the signature of the voter on the back or margin thereof.

Sec. 2. The Board of Aldermen of the Town of Sanford shall cause to be prepared, at the same time ballots are prepared for any election to be held in the Town of Sanford, certificates in blank and return envelopes to be used by absent voters, the said certificates to be in form as follows:

CERTIFICATE A
(To Be Used When Voter Is Absent From Town)

_____ P.O. ____________ Date.

To the Registrar and Judges of Election, ____________ Ward, Town of Sanford, North Carolina.

I, ____________ , do hereby solemnly swear that I am duly qualified and registered elector in ____________ Ward, in the Town of Sanford, North Carolina, and that I enclose herewith ballots which I wish to vote in the election (general), to be held in said Town on the ____________ day of May, 19 ____________ ; and that I am the identical person who has heretofore applied for and received from the proper officer in said Town the said ballots now enclosed to be voted; and that I will be absent from the ward in which I am entitled to vote on the day of election.

(Signed) _____

Sworn to and subscribed before me, this ____________ day of ____________ 19 ____________ .

(Seal) if any.

_____ (Official title to be written here)

 

CERTIFICATE B
(To Be Used When Voter Is Physically Unable to Attend Polls)

_____ P.O. ____________ Date.

To the Registrar and Judges of Election, ____________ Ward, Town of Sanford, North Carolina:

I, ____________ , do solemnly swear that I am a duly qualified and registered elector in ____________ Ward, in the Town of Sanford, North Carolina, and I enclose herewith ballots which I wish to vote in the election to be held in said Town, on the ____________ day of May, 19 ____________ , and that my physical disability still exists and that I am the identical person who has heretofore received said ballots from the proper officer therein.

Signed ;hg; _____
(Voter must sign here);xhg;

Sworn to and subscribed before me, this ____________ day of ____________ , 19 ____________ .

(Seal) If any.

_____ (Official character of Officer.)

 

PHYSICIAN'S CERTIFICATE

I ____________ , a regularly practicing physician in the County of ____________ North Carolina, do hereby certify that I have this day made a personal examination of ____________ , the elector who has signed the above certificate, and I find, and do certify, that the said ____________ is physically unable to attend the regular polling place in his ward and vote in person thereat on the day of election.

This ____________ day of ____________ , 19 ____________

(Signed)
_____ (Physician)

Sec. 3. When the certificates set out in the foregoing section and the ballots for any election to be held as aforesaid have been prepared, the same shall be deposited in the office of the Clerk to the Board of Aldermen of the Town of Sanford, where the same shall remain until they are distributed to the registrars of the several wards for the election. Any person wishing to vote an absentee ballot shall make application in person, or by mail or through another, by written order to the Clerk to the Board of Aldermen of the Town of Sanford, or if he shall have distributed the ballot to the registrars before such application, then to the registrar of the ward in which the elector is registered and qualified voter, for ballots to be cast in the approaching election; and such Clerk or registrar as the case may be, shall furnish to said voter in person, by mail, or to his agent duly authorized in writing, one of each of the ballots as are to be cast in said election. The Clerk to the Board of Aldermen of the Town of Sanford shall transmit or deliver to the registrar of each ward a list of absentee voters to or for whom blanks and ballots have been supplied by him; and the names of all such absentee voters in the ward of said registrar so furnished by the said Clerk, with the names of those to whom the registrar himself shall have provided blanks and ballots prior to the day of the election, shall be published or posted on the morning of the election by the said registrar in a public place at said voting precinct; and each blank and ballot so furnished by said registrar during the day of said election shall be added to said list as the same are furnished.

The said Clerk to the Board of Aldermen of the Town of Sanford, or said registrar, as the case may be, shall enter in a book provided by the Town of Sanford for that purpose the day and date of such application, the name and residence of the voter, and the day and date of furnishing said ballots; and they shall also enter in said book whether the ballots were delivered to the voter in person, or by mail, or through such authorized agents; and they shall also enter therein whether said voter is absent from the Town of Sanford, is physically unable to attend, or a nurse, or other person or attendant as herein provided for.

Sec. 4. It shall be the duty of said Clerk to the Board of Aldermen of the Town of Sanford, or the registrar of the ward, as the case may be, to mail or send to any voter absent from the Town of Sanford, or who is physically unable to attend in person, upon application in writing for same, only one of each form of ballot applied for to be voted in said election, one blank certificate only of the kind applied for, and one return envelope. The said application for such ballots, certificates and envelopes shall be preserved by the said Clerk or registrar, and shall be filed in the office of the Clerk to the Board of Aldermen of the Town of Sanford.

Sec. 5. It shall be the duty of the registrar in each ward to open at ten o'clock A.M. on the day of the election or, at any time thereafter before the closing of the polls all such letters received from such voters, and count the certificates and ballots, pass upon the validity of the same, and if found to be valid, when the polls are closed and the ballots finally counted the same shall be counted with other ballots, but shall be kept separate and apart from the other ballots and preserved as aforesaid. If found to be invalid, said ballots shall not be counted and shall be placed in the box with spoiled or defaced ballots.

Sec. 6. The right to vote of any such voter shall be subject to challenge in the same manner as if the elector proposing to vote were present in person, and such challenge shall be subject to the same laws as absent electors offering to vote in State elections.

Sec. 7. That all acts of the Mayor, Board of Aldermen of the Town of Sanford, and Clerk to the Board of Aldermen of the Town of Sanford, in heretofore preparing for the election to be held in the Town of Sanford on May seventh, one thousand nine hundred and thirty-five, and particularly in the issuing to voters of the Town of Sanford, blanks and ballots for voting as absent voters in said election, and the signing of said blanks, and the signing and voting of said ballots by the voters who have obtained the same, whether the same have already been signed, and mailed or sent in or may hereafter be signed and mailed or sent in, are hereby approved, and validated; and if the said certificates or blanks, and the ballots shall have been prepared by said voters in accordance with the foregoing sections hereof, the same shall be a valid ballot in said election to be held on May seventh, one thousand nine hundred and thirty-five.

Sec. 8. Any applicant, physician, elector, officer or other person knowingly making any false oath or false certificate in connection with application for ballots, return of ballots, obtaining of ballots or otherwise relating thereto, or any election official violating any of the provisions of this Act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, punished at the discretion of the Court.

Sec. 9. That all laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 10. That this Act shall be in full force and effect from and after the date of its ratification.

Ratified this the 7th day of May, A.D. 1935.

(Private Laws of 1935, chapter 213)