North Carolina Administrative Code › Title 08 - ELECTIONS › Chapter 04 - VOTING EQUIPMENT › Section .0400 - APPROVAL OF ELECTRONIC POLL BOOKS › Section 04 .0401 - STANDARDS FOR CERTIFICATION OF ELECTRONIC POLL BOOKS

Current through Register Vol. 39, No. 2, July 15, 2024
(a) As used in
				this Chapter, an "electronic poll book" is a system (including hardware,
				software, and firmware) used to check the registration of voters who appear to
				vote in person, to assign voters their correct ballots, and to record the
				voters' check-in and acceptance of ballots. An electronic poll book shall, to
				qualify for certification by the State Board for use in any election in North
				Carolina, fulfill the following requirements:
(1) It shall record all information a voter
				is required by law to provide when presenting to vote and be equipped so that
				voters and election workers can complete the steps required by law for checking
				a voter's registration and the distribution of ballots to checked-in
				voters.
(2) It shall be equipped
				for use on any day the polls are open for in-person voting and shall contain
				the list of registered voters eligible to vote in the election.
(3) It shall verify a voter's eligibility to
				receive a ballot, confirm a voter has not previously voted in the election
				based on available records, and record a voter's check-in and receipt of a
				ballot.
(4) It shall log all user
				activity and that log shall be secured from unauthorized alteration and be
				available only to authorized users. It shall require the use of individual user
				accounts assigned to individual authorized users and not allow shared accounts
				for access to the electronic poll book. As used in this Chapter, an "authorized
				user" is an individual designated by the State Board or a purchasing county
				board of elections to operate and maintain the electronic poll book.
(5) It shall secure the data of the
				electronic poll book such that the data is stored in a manner that an
				unauthorized party will not be able to access the data.
(6) It shall secure the data contained within
				the electronic poll book such that the data is not transmitted or transported
				for any purpose except for official use in the conduct of an election or as
				otherwise authorized by law.
(7) It
				shall ensure that the voter data contained within the electronic poll book is
				not deleted without prompting by an authorized user, so that county elections
				personnel can comply with all applicable laws pertaining to records
				retention.
(8) It shall not allow
				access to confidential voter data, except for official use by authorized
				users.
(9) It shall meet applicable
				federal requirements for electronic poll books.
(10) It shall be reviewed by an independent
				testing authority accredited by or partnered with a federal agency for
				compliance with applicable state law.
(11) It shall be simple for election workers
				to set up and use, and any hardware shall be transportable to voting
				locations.
(12) It shall be
				compatible with systems, equipment, and software utilized by the State Board
				and county boards of elections for storing and processing voter registration
				and voting data.
(13) It shall
				allow for a wired connection to peripherals approved by the State Board, when
				certifying an electronic poll book pursuant to Rule .0402 of this Chapter, that
				are required for the operation of the electronic poll book and, as minimally
				required for functionality, allow for a secure network connection for the
				secure transmission of data with the state's electronic information management
				system, provided that the connection to the network is not automatically
				enabled by default upon powering on or opening the electronic poll book. All
				other forms of connectivity are prohibited.