MANTEO, N.C. — Almost a month ago, election officials in North Carolina had to pivot after the state Supreme Court allowed Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s named to be taken off the election ballots. This meant that every single ballot in the state needed to be reprinted. That's been done now and in Dare County, operations are going smoothly.
"We received the new ballots, and then, per the date that the state board of elections set, we mailed out over 120 military and overseas ballots on September 20, and then on September 24 we mailed out around 400 absentee ballots for civilians." said Kelly McPherson, director of the Dare County Board of Elections.
Since then, an additional 800 plus absentee ballots have gone out to residents. Though the date was pushed back to kick everything off, once Dare County elections officials received the 7,000 new ballots, they didn't skip a beat.
Watch: Dare County election officials navigate reprinting of ballots
"We were able to store them and separate them and get right to the operation of making our packets. We have a room designated, secured, just for processing absentee ballots, and so that wasn't an issue. It was a challenge to push us back some, but we are just staying vigilant in making sure that everyone is receiving their ballots on time," said McPherson.
Early voting begins in Dare County on October 17. Besides the absentee ballot operation, officials are doing trainings for poll workers, prepping the voting sites and everything in between.
“What we're doing on a daily basis is processing registrations. We're fielding calls from people who want to check whether or not they're registered, what their party affiliation is, what their polling place is. We're prepping absentee ballots, sending the packets out. We are receiving those ballots, and while we are checking them in, they are approved every Tuesday from now until the day before the election, they're called absentee meetings, they are open to the public," said McPherson.
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Around 34,000 residents have registered to vote in Dare County so far and McPherson expects that to slightly grow. The county has 39,000 ballots and is more than equipped for what the turnout brings.
Early voting will be available for residents in three locations: the Kill Devil Hills Town Hall, Dare County Administration Building and the Buxton Fessenden Center Annex. For more information on voting information, head to the county's website here.
