2005 North Carolina Code - General Statutes § 163-281. Municipal precinct election officials.

§ 163‑281.  Municipal precinct election officials.

(a)       Chief Judges and Judges. – At the meeting required by G.S. 163‑280(c), the municipal board of elections shall appoint one person to act as chief judge and two other persons to act as judges of election for each precinct in the city. Not more than one judge in each precinct where there are registered voters of more than one political party shall belong to the same political party as the chief judge, if the municipal elections are on a nonpartisan or partisan basis. If the city and county precincts are identical and the board so chooses, it may decline to exercise its power to appoint precinct chief judge and judges, in which event the persons appointed by the county board of elections as precinct chief judge and judges in each precinct within the city shall serve as such for municipal elections under authority and subject to the supervision and control of the municipal board of elections. Nothing herein shall prohibit a municipal board of elections from using the chief judge and judges of election appointed by the county board of elections in those precincts which are not identical provided the county board of elections agrees, in writing, to such arrangement. Chief judges and judges shall be appointed for terms of two years. Except as modified by this Article, municipal precinct chief judge and judges shall meet all of the qualifications, perform all the duties, and have all of the powers imposed and conferred on county precinct chief judge and judges by G.S. 163‑41(a), 163‑47, and 163‑48. Municipal precinct chief judge and judges shall not have the powers and duties with respect to registration of voters prescribed by G.S. 163‑47(b). Immediately after appointing chief judge and judges as herein provided, the municipal board of elections shall publish the names of the persons appointed in some newspaper having a general circulation in the city, or in lieu thereof, by posting at the city hall or some other prominent place within the city, and shall notify each person appointed of his appointment. Notice may additionally be made on a radio or television station or both, but such notice shall be in addition to the newspaper and other required notice.

(b)       Assistants at Polls. – Municipal boards of elections shall have the same authority to appoint assistants to aid the chief judge and judges as is conferred on county boards of elections by G.S. 163‑42.

(c)       Ballot Counters. – Municipal boards of elections shall have the same authority to appoint ballot counters as is conferred on county boards of elections by G.S. 163‑43.

(d)       Markers. – Municipal boards of elections shall not appoint markers, and markers shall not be used in municipal elections.

(e)       Observers. – In cities holding partisan municipal elections, the chairman of each political party in the county shall have the same authority to appoint observers for municipal elections as he has for county elections under G.S. 163‑45.

(f)        Compensation. – Precinct officials and assistants appointed under this section shall be paid such sums as the city council may fix. County precinct officials and assistants serving in municipal elections in default of appointment of precinct officials by the municipal board of elections shall be compensated by the city in the sums specified in G.S. 163‑46.

(g)       Party Chairman Not to Recommend Persons for Appointment. – No municipal, county, State or national chairman of any political party shall have the right to recommend to the municipal board of elections the name of any person for appointment as a precinct chief judge, judge of elections, assistant or ballot counter.

(h)       Designation of Precincts in Which Officials to Serve. – The municipal board of elections may designate the precinct in which each chief judge, judge, assistant, ballot counter, or observer or other officers of elections shall serve; and, after notice and hearing, may remove any chief judge, judge, assistant, ballot counter, observer, supervisor of elections or other officers of elections appointed by it for incompetency, failure to discharge the duties of office, failure to qualify within the time prescribed by law, fraud, or for any other satisfactory cause.

(i)        Powers and Duties. – Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, precinct assistants, ballot counters, observers, and supervisors of elections and other officers of elections appointed by the municipal board of elections shall have the same powers and duties with respect to municipal elections as precinct assistants, ballot counters, observers, and supervisors of elections and other officers of elections appointed by county boards of elections. (1971, c. 835, s. 1; 1973, c. 793, ss. 80‑83, 94; c. 1223, s. 9; 1977, c. 626, s. 1; 1989, c. 93, s. 8; 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 762, s. 60.)