AN ACT to extend the 2022 deadline for one year regarding retention of the 2020 election records and TO require container‑return envelopes used to mail in absentee ballots be retained for TWENTY‑TWO months.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Except as otherwise required by federal law and notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the deadline for retaining records and papers regarding the 2020 election is extended from September 2022 to September 2023. The State Board of Elections, in collaboration with county boards of elections, shall ensure 2020 election records and papers are retained in accordance with this section.

SECTION 2.  G.S. 163‑234(10) reads as rewritten:

(10)    The county board of elections shall retain all container‑return envelopes and absentee ballots, in a safe place, for at least four 22 months, and longer if any contest is pending concerning the validity of any ballot.

SECTION 3.  This act is effective when it becomes law.