08 NCAC 22 .0202             PETITION SIGNATURE VERIFICATION DETERMINATIONS

(a)  An official conducting signature verification pursuant to Rule .0201 of this Section shall notate on the original signature sheet the official's determination whether each petition signer's signature will count towards the signature requirement and shall assign a status to each petition signer in the petition module in accordance with this Rule.

(b)  An official shall notate the signature sheet with a checkmark and assign the status of "OK" in the petition module for each petition signer whose signature will be counted because the official confirmed that the petition signer is a registered voter qualified to sign the petition.

(c)  An official shall notate the signature sheet with an "X" and assign one of the following statuses in the petition module for each petition signer whose signature will not be counted for the stated reason:

(1)           "Address Rejected" shall be used when the petition signer's listed address is not a recognized address in the county.

(2)           "Deceased" shall be used when the petition signer matches to a registered voter in the county who is in a removed registration status due to death.

(3)           "Duplicate" shall be used when the official determines that a petition signer has signed a petition more than once and one of the signatures has already been verified pursuant to Rule .0201 of this Section.

(4)           "Illegible" shall be used when the official is unable to read the petition signer's printed information and signature such that the official cannot perform a search for the voter in the registration records.

(5)           "Incorrect County" shall be used when the petition signer's listed address is a recognized address in a county different from the county of the official reviewing the signature sheet.

(6)           "Late Filing" shall be used when the signature sheet was submitted to a board of elections after the deadline prescribed by law.

(7)           "Moved" shall be used when the petition signer matches to a person who is in a removed registration status due to moving outside of the county.

(8)           "No Record" shall be used when the petition signer does not match to a registered voter in the county.

(9)           "Not in District" shall be used when the petition signer is not qualified by law to sign the petition because their residential address is not within the district to which the petition pertains.

(10)         "Removed" shall be used when the petition signer matches to a person in a removed registration status for a reason other than death or moving outside of the county.

(11)         "Signature Missing" shall be used when the petition signer failed to sign the signature sheet.

(12)         "Signature Rejected" shall be used when the petition signer's signature is determined to not reasonably resemble a signature in the matched registration record of the voter.

(13)         "Wrong Party" shall be used when the petition signer is not qualified by law to sign the petition because they are not affiliated with the necessary political party when party affiliation is a required qualification to sign a petition in lieu of paying a filing fee pursuant to G.S. 163-107.1.

The automatic assignment of a status by the petition module to a petition signer shall satisfy the official's requirement to assign a status pursuant to this Paragraph.

(d)  After the official has made notations on signature sheets in accordance with this Rule, and before issuing a signature certificate, board staff shall make an electronic copy of the signature sheets and store the digital copy in the board's digital file storage system, which may include a digital file storage system maintained by the State Board. If the board of elections is required by law to return the original signature sheets to the petitioner, board staff shall perform this task before returning the original signature sheets to the petitioner. The official shall issue the signature certificate in accordance with the statute that is applicable to the petition.

History Note:        Authority G.S. 163-22; 163-96; 163-107.1; 163-122; 163-123; 163-213.5; 163-221; 163-296;

Eff. September 1, 2025.