In the wake of Tropical Storm Helene’s devasting impact on Western North Carolina, the State Board of Elections voted to put emergency measures in place, designed to help North Carolina voters living temporarily elsewhere inside or outside of the state or in disaster shelters to be able to vote.
These measures also allow county boards of elections in the 13 counties affected, the flexibility to modify early voting and Election Day voting sites and recruit additional poll workers to best accommodate their voters based on local conditions. They also allow election officials to continue to work with federal and state partners to provide election-related aid to the disaster counties, including temporary voting facilities and restrooms, generators, and other needs.
The emergency measures also include ways to get information about voting to voters housed in shelters and to western North Carolina in general. They were carefully crafted to avoid any detrimental effect on the integrity of the election or the security of ballots.
Measures approved by the State Board do all the following and more in the 13 counties:
In-person voting:
- Facilitate in-person early voting by allowing county boards of elections to modify their approved early voting sites, days, and hours through a bipartisan, majority vote.
- Allow county boards to modify Election Day polling places by bipartisan, majority vote. This provision also allows county boards of elections, with the approval of the State Board executive director, to open a polling place in another county, provided that materials, tabulators and voting processes are kept separate for each precinct’s voters at that location.
- Allow county boards — by bipartisan, majority vote — to set up their board of elections office to permit any voter in the county to vote at that site, in the event voters are unable to get to their Election Day precinct voting site or are unsure of their voting location. Some county offices may also serve as an early voting site, which allows any voter of the county to vote during the early voting period.
Absentee voting:
- Allow voters to request and receive an absentee ballot?in person?at their county board of elections office up until Nov. 4 — the day before the election. As always, the voter or voter’s near relative or legal guardian is required to complete an absentee request form with the required personal information for the voter, and that information must be verified by the county board as with any absentee request.
- Allow voters to drop off completed absentee ballots at Election Day polling places operated by the voters’ county board by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.
- Allow voters or their near relatives or legal guardians to hand-deliver completed absentee ballots to another county board of elections in North Carolina or the State Board of Elections office, as long as the ballot is received by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. The county or State Board then would ensure that those ballots are delivered to each voter’s county board of elections by Nov. 14 — the day before county canvass — to be counted. A log and chain of custody will be maintained to secure these ballots.
Poll worker recruitment and assignment:
- Allow county boards – by bipartisan, majority vote – to appoint election officials who are registered to vote in other N.C. counties, to appoint emergency Election Day assistants and assign them to a precinct, and to reassign poll workers to different locations than their original assignment to ensure sufficient knowledge and expertise at each voting site.
Multipartisan Assistance Teams (MATs):
- Allow county boards — by bipartisan, majority vote — to schedule Multipartisan Assistance Teams to assist with absentee ballot requests and absentee voting at disaster shelters and other places where disaster relief is provided to the public. These teams may receive and deliver to county boards completed absentee ballot envelopes for voters.
Coordination with emergency officials:
- Ensure the State Board continues its ongoing coordination with the N.C. Division of Emergency Management to provide election-related aid to the disaster counties, including temporary voting facilities, generators, temporary restrooms, and other needs.
General Questions
Who is eligible for early voting?
Under North Carolina law, anyone who is eligible to vote may choose to vote early.
When does early voting start and end?
Early voting begins Thursday, Oct. 17. It ends at 3 p.m. on the Saturday before Election Day, Nov. 2. In Buncombe County Early Voting locations are open Oct. 17-Nov. 1 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and on Saturday, Nov. 2 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Locations for Buncombe County were revised on Oct. 8 as below:
Where do I go to vote during early voting?
Approved locations:
- Black Mountain Library, 105 N. Dougherty St., Black Mountain
- East Asheville Library, 3 Avon Road, Asheville
- Enka-Candler Library, 1404 Sand Hill Road, Candler
- Fairview Library, 1 Taylor Road, Fairview
- Leicester Community Center, 2979 New Leicester Hwy., Leicester
- South Buncombe Library, 260 Overlook Road, Asheville
- UNCA Health & Counseling Center, 118 W.T. Weaver Blvd., Asheville (new location)
- Weaverville Community Center, 60 Lakeshore Drive, Weaverville
- Dr. Wesley Grant Southside Center, 285 Livingston St., Asheville (in lieu of Board of Elections location)
- West Asheville Library, 942 Haywood Road, Asheville
What is same-day voter registration?
The normal deadline to register to vote in North Carolina passed on Friday, Oct. 11. However, anyone who missed the deadline has one more chance —same-day registration.
State law allows North Carolina residents to register to vote and cast their votes on the same day during early voting. Interested people must fill out a voter registration application, provide proof of residence using an approved document that lists their current name and address and present acceptable photo identification.
Under the federal Help America Vote Act, acceptable documents to prove residency include current utility bills, bank statements, government checks, paychecks or other government documents. HAVA also permits voters to use a current document issued from the institution that issued the photo identification they show at the time of voting.
After following these steps, voters cast a retrievable ballot.
Within two days, the county board of elections will verify their driver’s license or social security number, update the statewide voter registration database, search for duplicate voter registrations and verify the voters’ addresses by mailing them a notice.
If the notice comes back as undeliverable, the ballot will be removed from the count. But if it is delivered, the voter’s ballot will count.
Voters already registered in the county may also update their address and name at an early voting site.
What do I need to vote early?
Voters who are already registered need the same information to vote early as they would if they voted in-person on Election Day.
They must present valid photo identification, or fill out a photo identification exception form.
Photo ID exceptions include “reasonable impediments” like lost or stolen IDs, disability, illness and school or work schedules, religious objections to being photographed and being a victim of a natural disaster within 100 days before Election Day that was a state or nationally declared disaster.
Election Services can also provide a voter id at their office at 59 Woodfin Place in Asheville.
You will tell them your name and address, as well as present your photo identification. The official will repeat the information back to you.
Who oversees early voting sites?
Each early voting site has a chief judge and judge, as well as election assistants when possible. The chief judge is responsible for the transfer of ballots and voting materials, as well as directing other judges and assistants. Each site has two judges, who are registered voters from different political parties.
Chief judges, judges and assistants work together to check in voters, issue ballots, handle provisional ballots, monitor the voting site, make sure only official ballots are inserted into tabulators and otherwise enforce election law.
The chair of each political party in a county can also appoint political observers to oversee early voting and ensure election integrity.
How can I see who is on my ballot?
Voters can find who is on their ballot using the State Board of Elections’sample ballot tool.
Enter your name to access your voter record, which includes a link to a sample ballot for your precinct.
Why are there so many different ballots?
Ballots are different depending on where you live because of legislative districts and boundaries for county offices.
What if I vote early, but change my mind?
Voters who cast their ballots at an early voting site may not cancel their votes to vote again on another early voting day or Election Day.
What if I requested an absentee ballot, but want to vote in person instead?
Voters who requested absentee ballots may vote early in person if their county board of elections has not received their completed absentee ballot.
If a voter decides to vote in person instead, they should call their county board of elections to “spoil,” in other words cancel, their original absentee ballot.
If a county board of elections has already received a completed absentee ballot from a voter, and that voter attempts to vote in-person at an early voting site or on Election Day, they will appear in the system as having voted already and will not be permitted to do so again.
Each day of early voting, county boards of election will report the number of absentee ballots that have been spoiled in this way.
What if I recently moved to North Carolina or somewhere new in North Carolina?
New residents who have lived in the state or their new county for at least 30 days are eligible to vote.
If these voters have not registered to vote yet at their new address, they can use same-day registration at an early voting location to do so. They must bring the required documentation, including a HAVA document and photo identification.
If voters can do this, they will be able to cast a non-provisional ballot, according to state law.
How do I know early voting is secure?
The same security measures in place for Election Day are established during early voting.
Each ballot has a paper trail, which can be audited or recounted. Voters must show a valid photo ID or fill out an exception form. Voting machines do not connect to the internet. Bipartisan, trained election officials oversee the election process from start to finish. Officials keep logs of every voter who enters the polling site. The State Board has an investigations division to look into any suspicious activity.
Early voting sites have the same buffer zone as Election Day polling places — a 50-foot distance from the site entrance where people may not obstruct access, advertise for a political party or candidate, among other election activity.
Anyone can make a challenge during early voting hours on the grounds that a person has already voted, is impersonating someone else; isn’t a resident of the precinct, county or state; isn’t a U.S. citizen, is under 18, is a convicted felon whose rights haven’t been restored or has not presented valid photo ID.
Challenges are heard by the chief judge and judges, who will check the person’s qualifications to vote.
How are early votes counted?
Under current NC state law, votes from early voting are not tabulated until all votes are in at 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. They will be counted simultaneously with Election Day votes, and this may mean a slight delay in reporting results.
Though no one has access to early voters’ ballot selections before all results are tabulated, county boards of elections will keep a record of people who vote early to share with the State Board of Elections.
Two days after Election Day polling sites close, the county board of elections will report the number of provisional ballots cast, including at early voting sites.