Comment on Voting Site Rules Definitions 10C.0101

The rules we submitted to the NCSBE are now in the hands of the Rules Review Commission for final approval. There are already dozens of comments urging the RRC to get rid of the rules. We want them fixed.

Please re-write the following rules into your own words. Feel free to submit more than one comment.  Email them to Alexander.Burgos@oah.nc.gov by Tuesday, August 18th, 2026.

RULE:  08 NCAC 10C .0101 DEFINITIONS

NCEIT PROPOSED COMMENTS:

1.      The term “Electioneering Zone” was not introduced by the NC General Statutes; rather, it was invented by the NC State Board of Elections.  As proposed in this rule, the broad definition of the term would put it in conflict with First Amendment Freedoms that have been affirmed by U.S. Supreme Court Case Law (Burson v. Freeman, 504 U.S. 191, 210 (1992) “At some measurable distance from the polls, of course, governmental regulation of vote solicitation could effectively become an impermissible burden.”).

2.     The term to be included in the list of definitions should be “Area(s) for Election-related Activity,” not “Electioneering Zone” which is much more restrictive in its connotation.  The NC General Statute 163-166.4(b) defines the area outside the buffer zone as the “Area for Election-related Activity.”  The is a much better term for “the area(s) adjacent to but outside the buffer zone for each voting place in which persons or groups of persons my distribute campaign literature, place political advertising, solicit votes, or otherwise engage in election-related activity as stipulated by G.S. 163-166.4(b).”

3.     The term “Electioneering Zone” will be confusing to election officials and poll greeters who may misconstrue the controls and restrictions that are permissible outside the buffer zone.  The U.S. Supreme Court has clearly ruled that buffer zone restrictions are permissible only to a uniform and defensible distance from the polling place, but that election-related activity restrictions beyond the buffer zone are impermissible, particularly on public sidewalks and in public parking lots.