(a) The county board of elections shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, a list in at least triplicate, of all absentee ballots issued under Article 20 of this Chapter returned to the county board of elections to be counted, which have been approved by the county board of elections, have not been included on the certified list prepared pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-232, and which have been postmarked by the day of the statewide primary or general election or county bond election and received by the county board of elections not later than three days after the election by 5:00 p.m. The list shall be supplemented with new information each business day following the day of the election until the deadline for receipt of such absentee ballots. At the end of the list, the chairman shall execute the following certificate under oath:

“State of North Carolina

County of ____

I, ____, chairman of the ____ County Board of Elections, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a list of all executed absentee ballots to be voted in the election to be conducted on the ____ day of ____ , which have been approved by the county board of elections and which have been postmarked by the day of the statewide primary or general election or county bond election and received by the county board of elections not later than three days after the election by 5:00 p.m. I certify that the chairman, member, officer, or employee of the board of elections has not delivered ballots for absentee voting to any person other than the voter, by mail or by commercial courier service or in person, except as provided by law, and have not mailed or delivered ballots when the request for the ballot was received after the deadline provided by law.

This the ____ day of ____, ____

_____________

(Signature of chairman of

county board of elections)

Sworn to and subscribed before me this ____ day of ____, ____.

Witness my hand and official seal.

__________

(Signature of officer

administering oath)

________

(Title of officer)”

(b) The county board of elections shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, a list in at least triplicate, of all military-overseas ballots issued under Article 21A of this Chapter and returned to the county board of elections to be counted, which have been approved by the county board of elections, have not been included on the certified list prepared pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-232, and which have been received by the county board of elections not later than three days after the election by 5:00 p.m. The list shall be supplemented with new information each business day following the day of the election until the deadline for receipt of such absentee ballots. At the end of the list, the chair shall execute the following certificate under oath:

“State of North Carolina

County of ____

I, ____, chair of the ____ County Board of Elections, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a list of all executed military-overseas ballots to be voted in the election to be conducted on the ____ day of ____, ____, which have been approved by the county board of elections, and which have been postmarked by the day of the statewide primary or general election or county bond election and received by the county board of elections not later than three days after the election by 5:00 p.m. I further certify that I have issued ballots to no other persons than those listed herein and further that I have not delivered military-overseas ballots to persons other than those listed herein; that this list constitutes the only precinct registration of covered voters whose names have not heretofore been entered on the regular registration of the appropriate precinct.

This the ____ day of ____, ____

     _____________

     (Signature of chair of

     county board of elections)

Sworn to and subscribed before me this ____ day of ____, ____.

Witness my hand and official seal.

     __________

     (Signature of officer

     administering oath)

     ________

     (Title of officer)”

(c) The board shall post one copy of the most current version of each list in the board office in a conspicuous location for public inspection and shall retain one copy until all challenges of absentee ballots have been heard by the county board of elections. The county board of elections shall cause one copy of each of the final lists of executed absentee ballots required under subsection (a) and subsection (b) of this section to be (i) submitted electronically in a manner approved by the State Board of Elections or (ii) deposited as “first-class” mail to the State Board of Elections. The final lists shall be electronically submitted or mailed no later than 10:00 a.m. of the next business day following the deadline for receipt of such absentee ballots. Challenges shall be made to absentee ballots as provided in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-89 In addition the county board of elections shall, upon request, provide a copy of each of the lists to the chair of each political party, recognized under the provisions of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 163-96, represented in the county.

(d) All lists required by this section shall be retained by the county board of elections for a period of 22 months after which they may then be destroyed. (2009-537, s. 8(b); 2011-182, s. 6; 2015-103, s. 3(b); 2017-6, s. 3; 2018-146, s. 3.1(a), (b).)