What you need to know about N.C. voting, mail-in ballots - and changes for our 2020 endorsements

There are fewer than 100 days until Election Day, and of all the things we’ll say between now and Nov. 3, this remains the most the important: You should vote. It’s something that’s always been true, but this year, it’s never been more uncertain.

North Carolina, like many U.S. states, is in the midst of a COVID-19 surge, one that might be an obstacle to in-person voting. It’s a good idea for voters to make alternate plans of voting via absentee ballot. That’s allowed for all North Carolina voters, and even if you ultimately decide to vote in person, it’s a solid just-in-case plan.

That also means that county election boards and staff in our state will be strained as never before. You should plan for that, too. Here’s what you need to know about voting - and how we’ll do endorsements different this year to accommodate the different landscape:

Get your absentee ballot request form: It’s easy. You can get one at your county board of elections, or download one from the state Board of Elections web site. (Again, any N.C. voter can vote absentee.) Your completed form must be submitted by mail, email, fax or in person to your county BOE no later than the Tuesday before the election, the state says.

Don’t wait that long.

The number of absentee ballot requests zipped past 100,000 this week, says Catawba College Political Science Professor Michael Bitzer, who is tracking requests. That number will continue to surge, so your local board of elections will likely be overworked and under-resourced this fall. It’s best to turn in your absentee ballot request pronto.

Mail your vote: Absentee ballots will be sent to N.C. voters in early September. This year, you only need one witness instead of two to watch you vote and sign your absentee ballot envelope. The ballot must be delivered to your county BOE by election day or be postmarked by election day and arrive by 5 p.m. three days later.

Again, don’t wait. The U.S. Postal Service told employees in July to prepare for budget cuts, which might lead to slower service in the fall. The cuts are unfortunate and unwise, and a surge of mail-in voting this year could turn chaotic for mail service near Election Day. If you know you’re not going to vote in-person, get that absentee ballot in the mail in mid-October.

Vote early in-person: If you want to vote in-person but don’t want to experience potentially long and non-socially distanced lines on Election Day, early voting begins on Oct. 15 across North Carolina. To accommodate a possible increase in early voters - and to avoid the in-person voting debacles that Georgia and Wisconsin experienced this year - the state Board of Elections allowed counties to expand early voting hours and required every county in North Carolina to have at least one polling place for every 20,000 residents.

Another early arrival — our recommendations: The Editorial Board will again make endorsements of candidates in national, state and local races. Members of the board conduct research and interview candidates, and we talk to others who know and have worked with the candidates. We then discuss what we’ve learned as a board and make recommendations.

This year, we’re doing all of that earlier so that people who vote by mail or before Election Day can be armed with additional information and perspective. Our plan is to have all recommendations published by Oct. 15, when early voting begins. We’ll start publishing those endorsements around Oct. 1.

One thing we’re not doing is telling you how to vote. We consider our board to be one of many voices in the conversations our communities are having about issues and elections. As always, if your choice is “whomever the Editorial Board doesn’t endorse” — that’s OK, too! Our strongest recommendation, however, remains the same: Don’t sit out this consequential election. Vote.

This story was originally published August 2, 2020 at 12:00 AM with the headline "What you need to know about N.C. voting, mail-in ballots - and changes for our 2020 endorsements."