If you’ve waited until the last minute, here’s a procrastinator’s guide to Election Day
Most voters in North Carolina have already cast their ballots. But for those of you who have waited for Election Day, it’s here, and you might have questions about your ballot or voting in general. We’ve got answers.
If you are planning to vote Tuesday, the first thing to do is look up your name at vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup. You’ll find the address of the precinct where you should vote, and also a sample ballot showing exactly which races you’ll be able to vote for, so you won’t be surprised by any of them and can do some research ahead of time.
The News & Observer, The Charlotte Observer and The Herald-Sun also put together a voter guide, focusing on dozens of races around the state, which you can find at newsobserver.com/voter-guide.
The voter guide has biographical information on the candidates, plus a Q&A featuring their answers on several relevant questions to help you see where they stand on the issues.
In addition to being a key swing state in the presidential race, North Carolina could help decide which political party controls the U.S. Senate for at least the next two years. There are also races for governor, attorney general and the rest of the state’s executive branch offices, plus the entire state legislature, and numerous seats on both the N.C. Supreme Court and N.C. Court of Appeals.
There are also many local races.
You can go to our website to check out some of our stories explaining what’s at stake in each major race, or listen to our politics podcast by searching for Domecast on your favorite podcast app.
How to vote in person
Although most of the registered voters in North Carolina have already cast a ballot by mail or during early voting, the lines to vote Tuesday could still be long.
Polling places will open at 6:30 a.m. and close at 7:30 p.m., although anyone who’s in line by 7:30 can still vote, even if it takes until later.
The best chance you have at avoiding a long wait, the N.C. State Board of Elections says, is to vote in the middle of the day during normal work hours, if possible: “The busiest times tend to be early in the morning and just before the polls close. Avoid longer lines by voting at off-peak times.”
Voters don’t have to show ID this year and shouldn’t be asked for one. If there are questions about your eligibility or if you show up to vote at the wrong precinct, you can fill out what’s known as a provisional ballot that will be held aside until the questions are resolved.
Still have a mail ballot?
People who have received mail-in ballots but still haven’t sent them back in have three options now:
▪ As long as the ballot is in the mail and postmarked by Nov. 3, it will count if it gets delivered by Nov. 12.
▪ People can also drop off their mail-in ballots by hand at their county board of elections office during business hours Monday or Tuesday. However, not just anyone can drop off your ballot for you. They are supposed to be dropped off by the actual voter or a close relative — not a neighbor or friend.
▪ Or, you can choose not to send your mail-in ballot in and vote in person on Tuesday instead.
There is evidence in a federal court case that the mail is still being delayed, following changes to the U.S. Postal Service earlier this year like an order to get rid of high-speed mail sorting machines. And those delays, The Washington Post reported, are more pronounced in “key swing states” — including North Carolina — than in other places.
Find NC election night results
We’ll be updating our website all day long Tuesday, as reporters track any potential issues at polling places and then report on results after polls close and the numbers start coming in.
If you are just interested in seeing the raw numbers, you can also find that publicly available data on the N.C. State Board of Elections website, at er.ncsbe.gov. You can use the menu on that page to find all results as they come in, or results from specific races or from specific counties.
State officials expect to have at least 97% of votes counted by the end of election night. While that means we’ll likely know the results of many races by midnight or slightly later, there could be some in which we still won’t know who won for weeks — due to late-arriving ballots, recounts, lawsuits or all three.
Many key races here in North Carolina have come down to just a fraction of a percent, including recent elections for governor, president and competitive state legislative districts.
