Polling Place Buffer Zones

Buffer zones are an important part of election administration designed to protect voters' rights to cast their ballots freely, safely, and without intimidation.

What is a Buffer Zone?

A buffer zone is a specifically designated, restricted area immediately outside the entrance to a voting place. Its primary purpose is to ensure that voters have unimpeded access to the polling place without being harassed, intimidated, or delayed by campaign activities.

Within this zone, all electioneering and campaign-related activities are strictly prohibited.

How Buffer Zones are Defined

Under North Carolina state law (G.S. 163-166.4), county boards of elections are responsible for setting the dimensions of the buffer zone for each polling location.

• Size: Where practical, the buffer zone is set at 50 feet from the entrance door of the voting place, measured when the door is closed.

• Minimums: While county boards can adjust the distance if the physical location makes 50 feet impractical, the buffer zone can never be less than 25 feet from the entrance.

• Marking: Election officials clearly mark the boundaries of the buffer zone on Election Day, often using signs or tape.

• Notice: The county board of elections must make information about the buffer zone's size and location available to the public at least 30 days before Election Day (or 10 days before early voting begins).

What is Prohibited in the Buffer Zone?

State law explicitly forbids any person or group from engaging in the following activities within the buffer zone:

• Hindering access to the polling place.
• Harassing others.
• Distributing campaign literature or pamphlets.
• Placing political advertising or signs.
• Soliciting votes or campaigning.
• Conducting media polls or interviews.

Where Electioneering IS Allowed

While the buffer zone is strictly off-limits, campaigns and supporters still have a designated space to operate.

County boards of elections are required to provide an "area for election-related activity" adjacent to, or just outside, the buffer zone. In this designated area, individuals and groups are legally permitted to distribute literature, place signs, and solicit votes.

What Voters Should Know

1. Who Enforces It: The chief judge at each Election Day precinct and the manager at each early voting site are authorized by state law to maintain order, including enforcing the buffer zone. They check the boundaries throughout the day and will ask individuals violating the rules to move.
   
   
2. Report Issues: If a voter feels harassed, intimidated, or hindered while trying to enter the buffer zone or voting place, they should immediately report the issue to an election official inside the polling location.
   
   
3. Media Restrictions: Members of the news media have a First Amendment right to report on elections, but they too must remain outside the buffer zone and conduct any interviews or exit polling beyond its boundaries.
   
   
4. No Campaign Material Inside: Voters are generally allowed to wear political apparel or bring their own voting guides into the polling place to help them vote, but they cannot leave any campaign literature behind in the voting booth or distribute it to others within the buffer zone or voting enclosure.