RALEIGH, N.C. (WITN) – With Election Day approaching on Tuesday, the State Board of Elections is emphasizing that you mail your absentee ballot today or go vote in person.

Due to a state law passed last year, an absentee ballot must arrive at the county board of elections by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.

Previously, an absentee ballot could be counted if it was postmarked by Election Day and arrived three days after Election Day.

Because this is the first general election after the passage of this new law, the State Board of Elections urges everyone who has not turned in their ballots to act now.

“North Carolinians who vote by mail should no longer wait to return their ballot,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board. “Under the new law, your county board must have your ballot in hand by Election Day to count it.”

If the voter is unable to mail their ballot today, the board says they still have the option to:

• Send your ballot overnight or express using the postal service or a private delivery service. You should go to the voter’s county board of elections.
• Hand-deliver the ballot to any early voting site in the county where the voter is registered to vote. The in-person early voting period ends Saturday at 3 p.m.
• Drop off your ballot at your county board of elections office during business hours before 7:30 pm on November 5.

The board says the voter can also choose to vote in person, either at an early voting site in the voter’s county or at the Election Day precinct polling site. If they do, they can throw away their unused absentee ballot.

The board stresses that the state’s election system will not allow absentee ballots to be accepted if the voter has voted in person, because it is illegal to vote twice.

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