What voting looks like in North Carolina

North Carolina

What you need to know:

• A majority of North Carolinians voted early in the past three presidential elections.
• The state’s primary was at the beginning of March meaning most voters in the state did not have to vote during a pandemic.
• The Supreme Court recently ruled that the state may accept absentee ballots postmarked on November 3^rd and received by November 12^th.
• Reuters/Ipsos polling finds that the race is a toss-up between Biden and Trump in North Carolina.

Early voting start date: October 15, 2020

Absentee/Mail voting deadlines: Must be postmarked by Nov. 3^rd and received by November 12^th

Voter ID: No ID

Party in control of the state legislature: Republican

Governor: Roy Cooper (D)

Secretary of State: Elaine F. Marshall (D)

Margins of Recent Races:
2016 Margin: 3.8% for Trump

Early voting: 4,550,963 as of November 3, 2020 at 3:30 PM US Elections Project

66% of voted early in 2016 (USA Today and NY Times)

Reuters/Ipsos polling finds that North Carolinians are torn between Trump and Biden.

Vote history

Do they count votes as they come in or after election day?

Officials begin counting absentee votes on November 3, 2020.

Is early voting and wide-scale absentee voting a new thing?

Voters in North Carolina have increasingly voted early in recent years. In 2008 and 2012, about 60% of the total votes for those elections were cast before Election Day. Two in three voters voted early in North Carolina in 2016.

Did they have any problems counting votes in the primary?

The primary took place March 3, 2020, meaning election officials did not have to contend with the repercussions of voting during a pandemic. Only a runoff election was conducted for a single congressional district in June.

Any new laws that expand or restrict people's voting rights?

People convicted of a felony can vote once their full sentence is completed.

Additionally, the Supreme Court affirmed that North Carolina can now accept mailed ballots past November 3^rd if they are postmarked by Election Day. Because of the pandemic, North Carolina reduced the number of witnesses an absentee ballot must have to be counted.

What will lead to a mail in ballot getting thrown out?

Like in many other states a proper signature and signing the correct parts of a ballot are important in ensuring a vote gets counted. Additionally, one witness must sign any absentee ballot to verify the person’s identity. Only a person’s close family or legal guardian can deliver an absentee ballot on behalf of a voter. Other people delivering a ballot on behalf of a voter is illegal.

North Carolina does not allow ballot curing, meaning if there is a fixable mistake on a ballot, a voter can’t go back and fix it.

What are rules around a recount?
A recount can be triggered if election officials find errors when doing partial quality checks of the vote count. Candidates can request a recount if there is a difference between the losing and winning candidates is 10,000 votes or less, or within 0.5% of the votes cast.