Does your vote count if you die before Election Day in North Carolina?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Law says ballots can be challenged if a voter died, but predates early voting.
- State board issued 2022 guidance to remove pre‑election ballots of deceased voters.
- Judge ordered hearings on county board removals; Republicans now control state boards.
North Carolina has a relatively long early voting and absentee period, allowing voters to cast their ballots in-person or by mail for weeks before Election Day.
Sometimes, this means that a voter legally casts their ballot before the election, but dies before the actual day of the contest.
In this scenario, does the voter’s ballot get counted normally — or is it removed from the count due to their death?
The question has, at times, divided election officials and sparked a legal case that could result in the removal of certain members of county election boards.
Here’s what to know:
What does NC law say about dead voters?
North Carolina law is somewhat vague on the matter, but it does state that a ballot can be challenged on the grounds that a person is dead.
The law predates early and absentee voting procedures, leading some to argue that it may be inapplicable in those situations.
In 2022, the North Carolina State Board of Elections attempted to clear up the matter by issuing formal guidance to counties that instructed them to remove any ballots cast by voters who died before the day of the election.
The guidance directed election officials to obtain official confirmation of death before removing the ballot of a deceased voter.
Deceased votes counted in 2024
In 2024, the issue came to a head when election officials in Wake and Rowan counties decided to count 16 ballots from deceased voters.
At that time, county election boards had a 3-2 Democratic majority, which in Wake split along party lines to count the votes.
In one case, the board heard testimony about a 78-year-old Vietnam War veteran who cast his ballot early and died three days before the election.
Wake Board Member Gerry Cohen, a Democrat, said at the time that North Carolina’s tradition of removing ballots from deceased voters was “mean-spirited and reprehensible.”
In Rowan, a Republican board member joined three Democrats in allowing 13 votes from deceased voters to be counted.
Decision sets off winding legal battle
The situation prompted official complaints from voters who argued that the board members in question should be removed from their positions.
In January 2025, the State Board of Elections — which also had a Democratic majority at the time — voted along party lines to dismiss the complaints.
“It is disturbing when our rules, our memos are not adhered to,” Jeff Carmon, a Democrat on the board, said at the time. “... I find that the lack of clarity from our legislature gives them an out. It is my hope that the legislature will make it crystal clear to give our memos even more weight.”
The people who brought the complaints appealed the state board’s decision to North Carolina’s Office of Administrative Hearings, which reviews the actions of state agencies.
On Feb. 13 of this year, the judge in the case, Linda Nelson, ruled that the state board violated its own rules by dismissing the complaint without a hearing.
Just a day later, Nelson rescinded her own ruling — leaving the case unresolved again.
Less than two weeks after that, Nelson issued a new, longer ruling with the same ultimate result: compelling the state board to hold a hearing on whether to remove the county board members at issue.
The state board could choose to appeal the ruling.
In a statement to The News & Observer on Thursday, board spokesperson Jason Tyson said that the agency is “currently reviewing (the order) to determine next steps.”
Steve Holland — one of the voters who filed a complaint — urged the board not to appeal.
“It’s imperative that the state board schedule these hearings promptly, rather than pursue an appeal,” he said in a statement. “With preparations for the November general election just weeks away, residents in these counties deserve to know whether members of their boards of elections are fit to oversee the process.”
If the matter does come before the state board, it will find a different audience than the one that dismissed the complaint a year ago.
Republicans now hold majorities on all state and county election boards due to controversial legislation that stripped appointment power from Democratic Gov. Josh Stein and transferred it to the state auditor, a Republican.
