AN ACT to clarify access to voted ballots.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 163‑165.1 reads as rewritten:

§ 163‑165.1.  Scope and general rules.

(a)        Scope. – This Article shall apply to all elections in this State.

(b)        Requirements of Official Ballots in Voting. – In any election conducted under this Article:

(1)        All voting shall be by official ballot.

(2)        Only votes cast on an official ballot shall be counted.

(c)        Compliance With This Article. – All ballots shall comply with the provisions of this Article.

(d)       Other Uses Prohibited. – An official ballot shall not be used for any purpose not authorized by this Article.

(e)        Access to Voted Ballots. – Voted ballots ballots, and any paper and electronic records of associated with those individual voted ballots ballots, shall be treated as confidential, and no person other than elections officials performing their duties may have access to voted ballots or paper or electronic records of individual voted ballots those documents except by as follows:

(1)        By court order or order.

(2)        By order of the appropriate board of elections as part of the resolution of an election protest or investigation of an alleged election irregularity or violation.

(3)        By response to a public records request for all voted ballots of a precinct, ward, county, or city. Voted ballots ballots, and paper and electronic records of individual voted ballots ballots, shall not be disclosed to members of the public in such a way as to disclose how a particular voter voted, unless a court orders otherwise. voted and shall be redacted of any information identifying an individual voter.

(f)        Violation. – Any person who has access to an official voted ballot or record and knowingly discloses in violation of subsection (e) of this section how an individual has voted that ballot is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.