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North Carolina Election Observers: Rules and Constraints

This resource details state and federal laws that govern who can be a poll watcher, what they can do, and how election workers can regulate them.

Last Updated: September 26, 2024
Published: June 26, 2024
View the entire Election Observers Rules and Constraints series

Written and Published in Partnership with All Voting is Local.

Election observers, referred to as “observers” in North Carolina, are individuals who monitor polling places and ballot counting sites. While election observers play an important role in providing transparency, they can also be a potential source of disruption and intimidation. For this reason, all states have a series of rules and constraints regarding who can serve as poll watchers and what they can do. North Carolina’s rules on observers, which derive from the state’s election statutes and from guidance issued by the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE), are:

Appointment

Role of Observers

Prohibited Activities

Federal and state law strictly prohibit all people, including observers, from engaging in voter intimidation. Any action that makes a voter feel intimidated, threatened, or coerced (including any effort to prevent a voter from registering to vote, voting, or voting for or against any candidate or ballot measure) could constitute voter intimidation, regardless of whether it breaks a specific rule.footnote25_Oj9IexNJdrYlxKgWB4UnDfjPBzKM8swKiKVaeW55QQ_r8NdAquImuQU2518 U.S.C. §§ 241, 594; 52 U.S.C. § 10101(b).More information on the federal and state laws that protect North Carolina voters from intimidation can be found here.

Removal

End Notes