North Carolina Absentee Ballots Are Being Distributed Following 2-Week Delay

Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

North Carolina counties started distributing absentee ballots Tuesday for the November general election to those who requested them, roughly two weeks later than anticipated as a legal challenge forced delays.

Election officials in all 100 counties planned to mail out the first ballots to regular state residents starting Tuesday. Ballots to military and overseas voters requesting them — mostly transmitted electronically — went out starting this past Friday.

In all, more than 207,000 absentee ballot requests had been received as of early Monday, according to the State Board of Elections. More than 19,000 had come from military and overseas voters. Some completed ballots already have been returned.

State law directed that the first absentee ballots were to go out on Sept. 6, which would have made North Carolina the first in the nation to send out ballots for the fall elections. But appeals court judges prevented ballots containing Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name from going out after he sought his removal as a presidential candidate. That caused election officials statewide to print new ballots and reassemble absentee voter packets.

The board decided to begin the distribution of military and absentee ballots sooner than traditional mail-in ballots to ensure that the state complied with a federal law requiring ballots be transmitted to these categories of voters by Sept. 21.

The deadline to request a traditional absentee ballot by mail is Oct. 29. A law taking effect this year says those mail-in absentee ballots for most voters must be received by election officials in person or through the mail by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. Military and overseas voters have different request and return deadlines.

North Carolina absentee ballots were very popular during the 2020 general election due to COVID-19, with about 1 million such ballots cast. The number fell to roughly 188,000 for the November 2022 midterm election.

Featured photo via AP Photo/Gerry Broome.

‹

Bill Moving up Absentee Deadline in NC Clears Senate Panel

Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON Mail-in absentee ballots in North Carolina would have to be received by the day of the election, under a Republican-backed bill that cleared a divided Senate committee on Wednesday. Current law says ballot envelopes must be postmarked by the election date and received within three days to be counted. That window […]

North Carolina’s Absentee Ballot Release Was Delayed by RFK Jr. Ruling, but Will Begin This Week

North Carolina's first absentee ballots for the November election will be distributed starting this week, the State Board of Elections said.

North Carolina Governor Vetoes Bill That Would Take Away His Control Over Election Boards

Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed Republican legislation Thursday that would take away his powers to choose State Board of Elections members and give them to legislative leaders as the 2024 campaign cycle begins in the closely divided state. Cooper already had signaled a veto was coming, which sets up override […]

A Wide-Ranging North Carolina Elections Bill Is Advancing Again at the General Assembly

Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON Republican state legislators on Tuesday again took up a wide-ranging North Carolina voting bill that would move up the deadline by which absentee ballots must be received to be counted, bar private funds to administer elections and retool rules for poll observers parties pick for voting places. The House elections […]

N. Carolina GOP Pushes To Move Up Absentee Ballot Deadline

Written by HANNAH SCHOENBAUM North Carolina voters who turn in their absentee ballots after polls close on Election Day could see them tossed out under a bill advancing in the state House. A GOP-sponsored bill that passed 14-7 Tuesday in the House Election Law Committee would remove the state’s three-day grace period after an election […]

NC Governor Vetoes Bill Moving up Absentee Ballot Deadline

Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed on Thursday legislation that would bar officials from counting mail-in absentee ballots received after Election Day, even if their envelopes were postmarked on or before that date. Cooper’s veto was expected, given that Republicans pushed through the measure on party lines. Any GOP attempt […]

NC Republicans Advance Bill Limiting Mail-in Ballot Counting

Written by BRYAN ANDERSON With the legislative year nearing an end, North Carolina Republicans on Wednesday advanced a string of measures that voting rights groups fear would prevent lawfully cast ballots from being counted and discourage participation in the 2022 election. The bills the GOP moved through the House rules committee are unlikely to become law, […]

Cooper Vetoes GOP Bill That Sought To Weaken AG’s Powers

Written by GARY D. ROBERTSON North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed a measure Monday that would have limited the powers of the person in his former position — attorney general — to enter into future legal settlements. The legislation was passed by Republicans furious with Cooper’s successor over his handling of a 2020 elections lawsuit. […]

The Election Director in North Carolina, A Key Swing State, Is Ousted After a Republican Power Play

The North Carolina elections board ousted its executive director Wednesday in a partisan move that now puts Republicans in control.

North Carolina Absentee Ballots Are Being Distributed Following 2-Week Delay

Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS North Carolina counties started distributing absentee ballots Tuesday for the November general election to those who requested them, roughly two weeks later than anticipated as a legal challenge forced delays. Election officials in all 100 counties planned to mail out the first ballots to regular state residents starting Tuesday. Ballots to […]

›