Here is what the ballot will look like for those voting on Ocracoke.
The North Carolina Board of Elections announced on Friday that absentee ballots will go out to military and overseas voters on Sept. 20 and all other voters who requested them will go out on Sept. 24
County boards were prepared to send absentee ballots out on Sept. 6, the deadline for absentee ballots to be sent under state law.
However, rulings by the N.C. Court of Appeals and N.C. Supreme Court required election officials to remove the We The People party line from the presidential contest on the ballot, including the party’s presidential nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and vice-presidential nominee, Nicole Shanahan, according to a release by the North Carolina Board of Elections.
This schedule ensures that North Carolina will meet the federal law requirement to distribute ballots to voters under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) by the 45th day before the election–Sept. 21.
In North Carolina, any registered voter can vote an absentee ballot, after submitting a request for the ballot. Voters can request their absentee ballot at votebymail.ncsbe.gov. The deadline for absentee requests is Oct. 29.
However, election officials urge voters who wish to vote by mail to request their ballot soon, so that ballots can be completed and returned to the voter’s county board of elections by 7:30 p.m. Election Day–Nov. 5.
As of Sept. 12, more than 166,000 voters, including more than 13,600 military and overseas voters, have requested ballots. Election staff are preparing the online portal for electronic delivery and return of ballots that is available for military and overseas citizen voters.
Due to the timelines for the printing, delivery and assembly of all absentee ballots in every county, the State Board concluded that the only way to meet the federal deadline for military and overseas citizens was to establish separate dates for distributing absentee ballots.
State Board staff have arranged for special on-demand ballot printers to be positioned around the state to fulfill any orders for military and overseas citizen ballots for counties whose orders from their print vendors will not arrive in time for those ballots to be prepared for mailing by next Friday. These special printers can print any ballot style approved for use in the state. There are nearly 2,350 different ballot styles statewide for this election.
Meanwhile, staff will work over the weekend and through next week to prepare the online portal for electronic delivery and return of ballots that is available for military and overseas citizen voters. Nearly 90% of military and overseas citizen voters opt for this electronic ballot delivery feature.
This plan allows time for the much larger orders of absentee ballots for all other voters to be printed and delivered to the county boards in time for counties to prepare their outgoing absentee ballot packages for mailing on Sept. 24.
“This schedule is only possible because of the hard work of elections professionals across this state that will continue throughout the next week,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections. “Because of them, we expect to meet the federal deadline for ballot delivery, and North Carolinians can finally start voting in this important election.”
The release noted that the State Board has received many questions about the statewide cost of reprinting ballots. Preliminary estimates show the costs vary widely by county, depending on how many ballots must be reprinted and other factors. Estimates range from a few thousand dollars in some smaller counties to $18,000 in Caldwell County, $55,100 in Durham County and $300,000 in Wake County, home to the most registered voters in the state.
Here are key dates and deadlines for the 2024 general election in North Carolina:
Sept. 20: Ballots distributed to military and overseas citizen voters who have requested them.
Sept. 24: Absentee ballots distributed to all other voters who have requested them.
Oct. 11: Voter registration deadline (5 p.m.)*
Oct. 17: In-person early voting begins; same-day registration available.
Oct. 24 and 25: Ocracoke early voting will be two days only: from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department
Oct. 29: Absentee ballot request deadline (5 p.m.).*
Nov. 5: General Election
*Voter registration and absentee voting deadlines are different for military and overseas citizen voters.
