1. For any primary, general, or special statewide, district, or county election, the board of county commissioners may, before the sixtieth 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 chapters 16.1-13 and 16.1-15. At the determination of the county auditor, more than one voting location 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.

Any person who violates any of the provisions of this chapter is guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

At polling places using electronic voting systems, absent voters' ballots, if any, must be entered in secrecy by the two election judges. The absentee electronic voting system ballots prepared pursuant to this section must be deposited in the ballot boxes and counted as other ballots. If the electronic voting system in use so provides, the actual electronic voting system ballot may be used as the absentee ballot.

At any time beginning on the day before election day and the closing of the polls on election day, the election clerks and board members of the relevant precinct first shall compare the signature on the application for an absent voter's ballot with the signature on the voter's affidavit provided for in section 16.1-07-08 to ensure the signatures correspond. If the applicant is then a duly qualified elector of the precinct and has not voted at the election, they shall open the absent voter's envelope in a manner as not to destroy the affidavit thereon.

1. For any primary, general, or special statewide, district, or county election, the board of county commissioners may create a special precinct, known as an absentee ballot precinct, for the purpose of counting all absentee ballots cast in an election in that county. The election board of the absentee ballot precinct must be known as the absentee ballot counting board. The county auditor shall supply the board with all necessary election supplies as provided in chapter 16.1-06.

If the envelope containing the absent voter's ballot is received by the county auditor, auditor or clerk of the city, or business manager of the school district, as the case may be, prior to that person's delivery of the sealed package containing the official ballots to the inspector of elections of the precinct in which such absent voter resides, such ballot, after having been enclosed with the application in an envelope as required by section 16.1-07-10, must be enclosed in such package and delivered therewith to the inspector of the precinct.

Upon receipt of an envelope containing the absent voter's ballot, the proper officer immediately shall attach the application of the absent voter and file the ballot with other absentee ballots from the same precinct. Before delivering the absentee ballots to the precinct, the proper officer shall package the ballots in a manner so the ballots are sealed securely.

In the case of congressional, state, county, city, or school district elections, if an envelope postmarked or otherwise officially marked by the United States postal service or other mail delivery system before the date of election and containing an absent voter's ballot is received by the officer too late to be forwarded to the proper voting precinct in time to be tabulated, the ballot must be tallied by the canvassing board of the county, the governing body of the city, or the school board of the school district, as the case may be, at the time the returns are canvassed.

1.

Repealed by S.L. 2011, ch. 154, § 19.