§ 16.1-07-15 — Early voting precinct - Election board appointment - Closing and canvassing

canvassing.
1. For any primary, general, or special statewide, district, or county election, the board of
county commissioners may, before the sixty-fourth day before the day of the election,
create a special precinct, known as an early voting precinct, to facilitate the conduct of
early voting in that county according to this title. At the determination of the county
auditor, more than one polling place may be utilized for the purposes of operating the
early voting precinct. The election board of the early voting precinct must be known as
the early voting precinct election board. The county auditor shall supply the board with
all necessary election supplies as provided in chapter 16.1-06.
2. If the board of county commissioners establishes an early voting precinct according to
this section, the following provisions apply:
a. Early voting must be authorized during the fifteen days immediately before the
day of the election. The county auditor shall designate the business days and
times during which the early voting election precinct will be open and publish
notice of the early voting center locations, dates, and times in the official county
newspaper once each week for three consecutive weeks immediately before the
day of the election.
b. The county auditor shall appoint the early voting precinct election board for each
early voting polling place that consists of one independent representative to act
as the inspector and an equal number of representatives from each political party
represented on an election board in the county, as set out in section 16.1-05-01,
to act as judges. Each official of the board shall take the oath required by section
16.1-05-02 and must be compensated as provided in section 16.1-05-05.
c. The county auditor, with the consent of the board of county commissioners, shall
designate each early voting polling place in a public facility, accessible to the
elderly and the physically disabled as provided in section 16.1-04-02. With
respect to polling places at early voting precincts, "election day" as used in
sections 16.1-10-03 and 16.1-10-06.2 includes any time an early voting precinct
polling place is open.
d. At the close of each day of early voting, the inspector, along with a judge from
each political party represented on the board, shall secure all election-related
materials, including:
(1) The pollbooks and access to any electronically maintained pollbooks.
(2) The ballot boxes containing voted ballots.
(3) Any void, spoiled, and unvoted ballots.
e. Ballot boxes containing ballots cast at an early voting polling place may not be
opened until the day of the election except as may be necessary to clear a ballot
jam or to move voted ballots to a separate locked ballot box in order to make
room for additional ballots.
f. Each early voting polling place may be closed, as provided in chapter 16.1-15, at
the end of the last day designated for early voting in the county. Results from the
early voting precinct may be counted, canvassed, or released under chapter
16.1-15 as soon as any precinct within the county, city, or legislative district
closes its polls on the day of the election. The county auditor shall designate a
location for the closing, counting, and canvassing process under chapter 16.1-15,
which location must be open to any person for the purpose of observing.
g. The early voting precinct election board shall comply with the requirements of
chapters 16.1-05, 16.1-06, 16.1-11, 16.1-11.1, 16.1-13, and 16.1-15, as
applicable.