While early voting has become more and more popular locally and across the country, many people will still be heading to cast their ballots on Tuesday. But for the Orange County residents among those, election officials are reminding that there are some important things to keep in mind different from the early voting period.
Early voting has picked up in popularity for several reasons – among them being the ability to register to vote and fill out your ballot in the same place. But after the end of early voting on Saturday, you can no longer initially register for this election or update your registration.
According to the Orange County Elections Director Rachel Raper, though, that is not the most common mistake election officials see on Election Day.
“During early voting, you can go to whatever site you want – whatever is most convenient to you,” Raper described in a phone interview with Chapelboro. “On Election Day, voters should present to their assigned precinct. And I think that’s probably the biggest misconception about early voting versus Election Day.”
Residents’ precincts are determined by their registered address – which needs to be in Orange County to participate in this year’s Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough elections. If someone shows up at an incorrect precinct, though, Raper said people won’t just be turned away and told they can’t vote.
“What the precinct official will is found out what precinct the voter should be voting at, and they will let the voter know what the voting location is. Now, if a voter cannot or does not want to get to that location, the voter would have to vote a provisional ballot.”
Provisional ballots are a way for a voter to still have their vote cast, but it will not be immediately added to the total like the rest on Election Day. Instead, there is a process for checking to see whether the person’s mistake – either in which precinct they reported to, how they’re registered to vote, whether they have an acceptable voter identification, or an unreported move – disqualifies them from participating.
Raper said anyone voting a provisional ballot will have theirs set in an envelope with the person’s details.
“Our office will get that ballot back with the information,” she said, “and then we research the voter to determine if the voter was eligible to cast that ballot. We present the information that we’ve researched to our board, and then the board is [what] ultimately decides if the voter was eligible to cast that ballot.
“If the voter was eligible,” Raper continued, “then the vote will be tabulated. If the voter was not eligible, the ballot would not be tabulated.”
To help make sure people arrive at their correct precinct, Raper suggested they use the online voter search tool through the North Carolina Board of Elections. If people are confused on Election Day, she also suggested to simply ask one of the poll workers at a site what to do.
“They are there to help you and help walk you through the voting process,” she said.
While the voter ID law is in effect for the first time during this local election cycle, Raper added that through the second-to-last day of early voting, no Orange County voters had yet to report to a voting site without a valid form of identification. The full list of valid photo IDs in North Carolina can be found here.
Tomorrow, Nov. 7, is election day! To find all of your voting information in one place, use the voter search tool powered by the North Carolina State Board of Elections at https://t.co/aFAHNP2nZT
Voters will be asked to show a photo ID when they check in to vote. pic.twitter.com/N6T3q2SSoS— Orange County NC Gov (@OCNCGOV) November 6, 2023
Not everyone may be voting at a polling location on Election Day. Any absentee ballots can be dropped off to county boards of election during their hours of operation — which will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. An extension is given for ballots sent over the mail: if they are postmarked by November 7 and reach the boards of elections by Friday, November 10, then they will be counted in the final total.
Polls at all Orange County precincts will remain open until 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
For a full list of races Chapelboro is covering this 2023 local election cycle, click here. Additional coverage throughout election season can be found on the Chapelboro Local Elections page.
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