(a) Any voter eligible to vote by absentee ballot under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-226 may request an application for absentee ballots, complete the application, and vote under the provisions of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-227.5 and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-227.6

(b) Not earlier than the third Thursday before an election, in which absentee ballots are authorized, in which a voter seeks to vote and not later than 3:00 P.M. on the last Saturday before that election, the voter shall appear in person only at the office of the county board of elections, except as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-227.6 A county board of elections shall conduct one-stop voting on the last Saturday before the election from 8:00 A.M. until 3:00 P.M. That voter shall enter the voting enclosure at the board office through the appropriate entrance and shall at once state his or her name and place of residence to an authorized member or employee of the board and present photo identification in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-166.16 In a primary election, the voter shall also state the political party with which the voter affiliates and in whose primary the voter desires to vote, or if the voter is an unaffiliated voter permitted to vote in the primary of a particular party under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-119, the voter shall state the name of the authorizing political party in whose primary he wishes to vote. The board member or employee to whom the voter gives this information shall announce the name and residence of the voter in a distinct tone of voice. After examining the registration records, an employee of the board shall state whether the person seeking to vote is duly registered. If the voter is found to be registered that voter may request that the authorized member or employee of the board furnish the voter with an application for absentee ballots. The voter shall complete the application in the presence of the authorized member or employee of the board, and shall deliver the application to that person.

(c) If the application is properly filled out, the authorized member or employee shall enter the voter’s name in the register of absentee requests, applications, and ballots issued and shall furnish the voter with the ballots to which the application for absentee ballots applies. The voter thereupon shall vote in accordance with subsection (e) of this section.

All actions required by this subsection shall be performed in the office of the board of elections, except that the voting may take place in an adjacent room as provided by subsection (e) of this section. The application under this subsection shall be signed in the presence of the chair, member, director of elections of the board, or full-time employee, authorized by the board who shall sign the application and certificate as the witness and indicate the official title held by him or her. Notwithstanding N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-231(a), in the case of this subsection, only one witness shall be required on the certificate.

(d) Only the chairman, member, employee, or director of elections of the board shall keep the voter’s application for absentee ballots in a safe place, separate and apart from other applications and container-return envelopes. If the voter’s application for absentee ballots is disapproved by the board, the board shall so notify the voter stating the reason for disapproval by first-class mail addressed to the voter at that voter’s residence address and at the address shown in the application for absentee ballots; and the board shall enter a challenge under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-89

(e) The voter shall vote that voter’s absentee ballot in a voting booth in the office of the county board of elections, and the county board of elections shall provide a voting booth for that purpose, provided however, that the county board of elections may in the alternative provide a private room for the voter adjacent to the office of the board, in which case the voter shall vote that voter’s absentee ballot in that room. A voter at a one-stop site shall be entitled to the same assistance as a voter at a voting place on election day under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-166.8 The State Board shall, where appropriate, adapt the rules it adopts under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-166.8 to one-stop voting.

(f) At any site where one-stop absentee voting is conducted, there shall be a curtained or otherwise private area where the voter may mark the ballot unobserved.

(g) A voter who has moved within the county more than 30 days before election day but has not reported the move to the board of elections shall not be required on that account to vote a provisional ballot at the one-stop site, as long as the one-stop site has available all the information necessary to determine whether a voter is registered to vote in the county and which ballot the voter is eligible to vote based on the voter’s proper residence address. The voter with that kind of unreported move shall be allowed to vote the same kind of absentee ballot as other one-stop voters.

(h) Notwithstanding the exception specified in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-36, counties which operate a modified full-time office shall remain open five days each week during regular business hours consistent with daily hours presently observed by the county board of elections, commencing with the date prescribed in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-227.2(b) and continuing until 5:00 P.M. on the Friday prior to that election and shall also be open on the last Saturday before the election. A county board may conduct one-stop absentee voting during evenings or on weekends, as long as the hours are part of a plan submitted and approved according to subsection (g) of this section The boards of county commissioners shall provide necessary funds for the additional operation of the office during that time.

(i) Notwithstanding the provisions of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-89(a) and (b), a challenge may be entered against a voter at a one-stop site under subsection (g) of this section or during one-stop voting at the county board office. The challenge may be entered by a person conducting one-stop voting under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-227.5 and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-227.6 or by another registered voter who resides in the same precinct as the voter being challenged. If challenged at the place where one-stop voting occurs, the voter shall be allowed to cast a ballot in the same way as other voters. The challenge shall be made on forms prescribed by the State Board. The challenge shall be heard by the county board of elections in accordance with the procedures set forth in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-89(e). (1973, c. 536, s. 1; 1975, c. 844, s. 12; 1977, c. 469, s. 1; c. 626, s. 1; 1979, c. 107, s. 14; c. 799, ss. 1-3; 1981, c. 305, s. 2; 1985, c. 600, s. 4; 1987, c. 583, s. 4; 1989, c. 520; 1989 (Reg. Sess., 1990), c. 991, s. 2; 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 762, s. 53; 1995, c. 243, s. 1; c. 509, ss. 117, 118; 1995 (Reg. Sess., 1996), c. 561, s. 4; 1997-510, s. 2; 1999-455, s. 6; 2000-136, s. 2; 2001-319, s. 5(a)-(c); 2001-337, s. 2; 2001-353, s. 9; 2003-278, s. 11; 2005-428, ss. 5(a), 6(a), 7; 2007-253, s. 3; 2007-391, s. 34(a); 2009-541, s. 23; 2013-381, ss. 2.7, 16.5, 25.1, 25.2, 25.3, 30.7; 2014-111, s. 3; 2015-103, ss 6(b), 8(b), (c); 2017-6, s. 3; 2018-13, s. 3.11(b); 2018-112, s. 1; 2018-129, s. 1(a); 2018-144, ss. 1.4(b), 3.4(e), (f); 2018-146, s. 3.1(a), (b); 2019-239, s. 2(a).)