More than 1 million NC voters ask for absentee ballots; votes cast by mail already surpass 2016
This story is updated with the latest numbers as of Oct. 9.
North Carolina voters are switching to mail-in voting this year at a rapid pace, with 443,190 ballots cast so far.
That’s more than in the 2016 presidential election, when fewer than 200,000 people voted by mail. There’s less than a month to go until Election Day on Nov. 3.
Despite news stories about slowdowns at the U.S. Postal Service, there have not been any major issues, either with sending ballots to voters or with voters sending their ballots in, Wake County Elections Director Gary Sims said Sept. 18.
“We’ve been seeing regular turnaround by the mail,” he said. “It’s been good.”
There are hundreds of thousands more North Carolina voters who have received mail-in ballots but have yet to fill them out and return them. 1,268,014 people here had requested an absentee ballot — about 8 times the number of requests at this same point in the 2016 elections, public records show.
In 2016, around 4.8 million people voted in North Carolina.
It remains to be seen whether the huge spike in mail-in voting this year will also lead to a spike in voting in general, or if it just represents people switching up how they vote due to health concerns over coronavirus.
Nationwide, the disease has now killed more than 200,000 Americans. In North Carolina, the state typically sees hundreds of new cases reported every day, with more than 3,000 people dead since March.
Wake County voters have sent back 67,034 ballots, the most in the state so far, state data shows. Mecklenburg is second with 56,515 ballots, followed by Durham at 23,802.
Wake and Mecklenburg are the two most populous counties in the state, but Durham vaulted over three bigger counties: Guilford, Forsyth and Cumberland.
Democrats embrace mail-in voting
While there’s no data yet on how the votes break down, Democratic voters have been the most enthusiastic about voting by mail. Statewide, registered Democrats make up 35.8% of all voters but 52% of those who have mailed back their ballots through Tuesday.
“The breakdown of absentee ballot requests is the best indicator we have so far that the grassroots energy in this election is squarely on our side,” wrote Meredith Cuomo, executive director of the N.C. Democratic Party, in a statement to The News & Observer.
Another 31% of ballots mailed back so far have come from unaffiliated voters, and 17% have been from Republicans.
Republican President Donald Trump has frequently criticized voting by mail, claiming that it’s rife with fraud, despite no proof of those problems.
However, around 52% of people nationwide who plan to vote this year say they will use absentee voting, according to a recent poll from The Washington Post and the University of Maryland. Around 33% want to vote entirely by mail, and 17% plan to get a ballot mailed to them, but then drop it off either at a local elections office or a ballot dropbox, the poll found.
North Carolina does not have ballot dropboxes, but voters who don’t want to mail their ballots can return them in person to their county elections office — or, when early voting starts next month, at an early voting site.
In North Carolina, voters who vote absentee ballot by mail can track their ballots with a new app called BallotTrax. More information is at northcarolina.ballottrax.net.
How to avoid waits, mistakes
Sims, in Wake County, cautions those who plan to submit their absentee ballots in person that it’s not as simple as just dropping it off. Voters need to wait while officials verify and log in all the information they need, Sims said. Many people have found themselves waiting in line at the Raleigh office — perhaps not ideal for those who chose absentee voting because of coronavirus concerns.
So far, the main mistake elections staff have seen on absentee ballots have been related to the signatures.
There is one signature line for the voter and another for the witness. Staffers have seen voters signing the wrong box, Sims said. They’re also seeing some problems with the witness signing the ballot but not filling out all of the required information that’s listed in the instructions.
“Make sure the witness puts their complete info on there,” he said. “Do a double check.”
Because of a recent lawsuit, North Carolina elections officials now have to tell people if there’s a problem with their mail-in ballot that can be fixed, such as a signature mix-up.
Because of this new guarantee that people who make a mistake can get a second chance to fix their ballots, Sims said it’s all the more reason for mail-in voters to request and send back their ballots sooner rather than later.
“That gives us plenty of time to get back to you and let you fix it,” he said.
Key absentee ballot deadlines
The absolute final deadline to request an absentee ballot is Oct. 27. And any ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day on Nov. 3, and that also make it back to state officials by Nov. 6, will be counted. That means if many people wait until the last minute to vote, there’s a chance that the winners of some close races might not be known immediately.
As for those who plan to vote in person still, Sims said officials in Wake County — and the rest of the state — are taking every precaution they can to eliminate coronavirus safety concerns.
“It’ll be safer than going to the grocery store, I’ll say that much,” Sims said. “And I think a lot of people have been going to the grocery store.”
Early voting this year will last from Oct. 15-31, and a list of each county’s early voting sites and times can by found on each county’s board of elections website or by searching at www.ncsbe.gov/voting/vote-early-person.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Domecast politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
Mark your calendars with NC voter deadlines
Oct. 9: Deadline to register to vote.
Oct. 15-31: Early voting. Ballots may be dropped off in person at early-voting sites. You can also register in person (and then vote) at a polling place during this time.
Oct. 27: Deadline to request an absentee ballot is 5 p.m.
Nov. 3: Election Day. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked on or before this day, and received by Nov. 6, to be counted.
Request an absentee ballot: votebymail.ncsbe.gov
Track an absentee ballot: northcarolina.ballottrax.net
This story was originally published September 19, 2020 at 6:30 AM with the headline "More than 1 million NC voters ask for absentee ballots; votes cast by mail already surpass 2016."
