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Absentee Voting
Absentee-By-Mail Voting in the November 8 Elections
Any North Carolina registered voter may request, receive, and vote a mail-in absentee ballot. No special circumstance or reason is needed. Registered voters in North Carolina must request an absentee ballot with an official N.C. Absentee Ballot Request Form. There are two ways to access and submit the form:
- Online with “Option 1 – Request an Absentee Ballot” at the N.C. Absentee Ballot Portal.
- On paper with the English N.C. Absentee Ballot Request Form for 2022 (fillable PDF) or the Spanish N.C. Absentee Ballot Request Form for 2022 (fillable PDF).
Track your absentee-by-mail ballot through the mail: Once you have requested your absentee ballot, you can track its status from printed to accepted by signing up online for status notifications through BallotTrax. Ballottrax will be available for the November 8, 2022 Election starting September 1, 2022.
Dates and Deadlines
The civilian voter registration deadline is 25 days before Election Day.* Find out how to register or how to update your registration.
State Board Launches Absentee Ballot Request Portal
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RALEIGH, N.C. – Starting today, September 1, 2020, North Carolina voters may request an absentee ballot completely online – another way state election officials are improving the voting process in 2020.
“At the State Board, our goal is to ensure all voters can cast a ballot, whether in person or by mail,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections. “The Absentee Ballot Request Portal will streamline voting by mail for voters who choose this voting option.”
The State Board has collaborated with Democracy Live to introduce the online Absentee Ballot Request Portal to assist any North Carolina registered voter in requesting an absentee ballot. The State Board website, NCSBE.gov, includes a link to the portal. The portal also allows military and overseas (UOCAVA) voters to request and return their absentee ballot online.
The Absentee Ballot Request Portal:
Allows registered North Carolina voters to securely request an absentee by-mail ballot completely online. The request may be made by the voter or their near relative or legal guardian. The voter’s county board of elections will mail the ballot to the voter.
Helps avoid duplicate requests by informing voters of existing absentee requests, and allows users to submit subsequent requests to update information on a previously submitted request.
Allows military or overseas voters to request and return their ballots through the portal.
Voters who are not registered will be provided a link to learn more about how to register in North Carolina.
To request a ballot through the portal, voters must verify their identity by providing their first and last names, date of birth, county of registration and additional personally identifying information for verification purposes. Voters will sign and submit the form online. If a voter provides their email address, they will receive a confirmation email after the request is submitted through the portal.
The deadline to request an absentee ballot is Tuesday May 10, 2022. However, elections officials strongly encourage voters to request a ballot before then to ensure absentee ballot return deadlines can be met.
For military and overseas (UOCAVA) voters…
Military and overseas (UOCAVA) voters may use the portal to complete a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA), which serves as a voter registration application and an absentee ballot request form.
UOCAVA voters with an eligible request on file may access and return their ballot using the secure UOCAVA portal. Only UOCAVA voters may receive and return their ballot through the portal.
When will ballots be mailed?
County boards of elections will begin sending absentee ballots to voters who request them on Monday March 28, 2022.
For more information about voting by mail in North Carolina, visit the Vote by Mail section of the State Board website.
Statement About Absentee Ballot Security in North Carolina
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RALEIGH, N.C. – The following is a statement from the State Board of Elections office about the security of absentee voting by mail in North Carolina:
Here are 12 reasons why absentee by-mail voting is safe and secure in North Carolina:
1. Election officials send ballots only to registered voters who request them using official request forms.
2. The voter or their near relative must fill out and sign the request form. Required information includes the voter's date of birth and the voter's driver's license number or last four digits of their Social Security number.
3. Fraudulently or falsely completing the form is a Class I felony.
4. In 2020, voters must vote their ballot in the presence of one witness. The witness must sign the absentee return envelope, certifying that the voter marked their ballot and is the registered voter submitting the ballot.
5. Only the voter or their near relative or legal guardian may return the ballot. County boards of elections keep a log of who drops off absentee ballots.
6. Upon return, the county board of elections reviews the absentee envelope to ensure compliance with the legal requirements.
7. Once the ballot is accepted, that voter is marked in the system as having voted in that election. If that voter tries to vote in person, poll workers will know the person has already submitted an absentee ballot.
8. Data on who has requested absentee ballots is now confidential until Election Day. This reduces the ability of third parties to attempt to tamper with ballots, as they will not know who has requested a ballot or when ballots are sent out.
9. Criminal penalties have been increased for absentee voting fraud-related offenses.
10. Many people are watching North Carolina’s absentee voting process, including candidates, political parties, county boards of elections, political and data scientists and the media. If there are anomalies or questionable activities, they will be reported to election officials.
11. The State Board Investigations Division, which has a dedicated team of experienced investigators, investigates credible allegations of election fraud and refers cases to prosecutors when warranted by the evidence.
12. The State Board conducts post-election audits which will catch inconsistencies which can then be investigated by the board or the Investigations Division.
Absentee by mail voting security:
Numerous safeguards are ingrained in the absentee voting process. Absentee ballots are sent only to registered voters who request them using an official State Absentee Ballot Request Form.
The request must be signed and include identifying information about the voter, including date of birth and driver’s license number or last four digits of the voter’s Social Security number. Voters must vote their ballot in the presence of a witness, and that witness must sign the absentee return envelope certifying that the voter marked their ballot and is the registered voter submitting the marked ballot.
Only the voter or their near relative or legal guardian may return the ballot. Upon return, the county board of elections reviews the absentee envelope to ensure compliance with the legal requirements. Once the ballot is accepted, that voter is marked in the system as having voted in that election.
Data on who has requested absentee ballots is now confidential until Election Day. Criminal penalties have been increased for absentee voting fraud-related offenses. Many people are watching our absentee voting process, including candidates, political parties, county boards of elections, and political and data scientists. If there are anomalies or questionable activities, they will be reported to election officials.
Finally, the State Board of Elections has an Investigations Division that investigates credible allegations of elections fraud and refers cases to prosecutors when warranted by the evidence. The State Board also conducts several post-election audits which will catch inconsistencies that can then be investigated by the State Board Investigations Division.