Absentee voting changes in North Carolina this year

DARE COUNTY, N.C. — Elections officials in North Carolina began mailing out absentee ballots ahead of the March 5 primary.

It’s not just the presidential race on the ballot: voters will pick candidates for several key state and local races, including the governor’s office.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections said 5,000 absentee ballots were already requested as of Thursday, a day before the period officially opened. A key change this year is those ballots have to be in the hands of elections workers on election night.

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A sweeping elections bill passed by the North Carolina General Assembly last year eliminates the three day grace period for absentee mail ballots to be received at elections offices. Instead of being postmarked by election day, those ballots must be received either by mail or in person by 7:30 p.m. on election night.

“What we don’t want to happen is people to… have an expectation that they can rely on when it was postmarked, that doesn’t matter any more,” said Skip Saunders, chairman of the Dare County Board of Elections.

Another change is the requirement that absentee voters mail in a copy of their voter ID with their ballot.

“And so when we review the absentee ballots, we’re looking for that as well as the other things that are on the ballot that are important,” Saunders said.

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Here are some key dates in the process:

• Absentee ballots are being mailed out now and you have until Feb. 27 to request one.
• The voter registration deadline is Feb. 9, but same day registration is available during the in-person early voting period in North Carolina that begins on Feb. 15.
• Early voting ends on March 2.
• And primary election day is March 5.

Officials said it’s key to adhere to requirements and deadlines to ensure your vote counts.
“If something is not congruent, then the ballot can be tossed,” he said. "And we don’t want to be in the business of doing that. We try really hard to make sure that every ballot’s counted. We want everyone’s vote to count.”

Comprehensive information on voting, including sample ballots can be found on theNorth Carolina State Board of Elections website.