Based on information the NC State Board of Elections provided on Thursday, Oct. 1, voting by absentee ballot is proving very, very popular among the state’s voters.
With just under a month to go until the Tuesday, Nov. 3 election, the state reported that county boards of elections have approved the absentee ballots of about 300,000 voters.
Though those ballots are pouring in, the NC Board of Elections is still in the process of determining which ballots will count and which will not. There are several pending lawsuits as to how ballots will be counted and a Federal District Court judge recently issued a temporary restraining order to stop the state’s elections board from making a rule change on absentee ballots that would allow ballots that had not been signed by a witness to be counted in violation of state law.
There are other ballot-related issues up in the air as well as the absentee ballots come in and early voting at polling places is just around the corner.
According to the new numbers from the state, 4 percent of registered voters in North Carolina have already cast their ballots for the 2020 general election. State election officials note that those votes will be counted in unofficial results reported on election night.
“These vote-by-mail numbers are far greater than we’ve ever seen in North Carolina history,” said Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of the State Board of Elections in an Oct. 1 press release. “They show that the process is working well for the vast majority of North Carolina voters who choose to vote by mail.”
According to that press release, late last month county elections boards across North Carolina began meeting to approve absentee ballots in preparation for those votes to be counted on election night. Those boards will continue to meet at least once a week through Election Day to approve additional ballots.
On Thursday, the Guilford County Board of Elections announced that it has scheduled a meeting for Monday, Oct. 5, at 10:30 a.m. on the lower ground level of the Guilford County Courthouse in downtown Greensboro. That special called meeting will be to preprocess absentee ballots. The meeting will be open for limited in-person citizen participation – 10 pre-registered attendees – however, it can be viewed by all using the virtual platform GoToWebinar.
It’s unusual for the state board to be putting out so much information a month before the election but since there’s been a lot of legal issues surrounding absentee ballots.
State officials also used the announcement to remind voters to fill out their ballots and forms carefully.
So far, according to election officials, “a small fraction” of absentee voters – about 3.5 percent – returned their ballot with “a problem, or deficiency.”
“Those issues can be corrected,” the release states, “either through a certification process or by issuing the voter a new ballot, ensuring that all eligible voters’ ballots are counted.”
“Many voters are casting their ballots by mail for the first time, so some mistakes are expected,” Brinson Bell said. “We strongly encourage voters to carefully read the instructions and be sure to complete all required fields on the envelope. But if they make a mistake, there is still time to fix it.”
Required fields include the voter’s signature and the witness’s printed name, address and signature. Also, if the voter gets help filling out or mailing in the ballot, the assistant’s name, address and signature has to be provided.
Courts are still are determining how elections administrators should handle ballots that are missing a witness signature. Until then, the State Board has directed the 100 county boards of elections to store those ballots securely until there is further direction from the courts.
How hard is “no witness, no vote”. Last time I checked that was how the law was written.
Oh, I forgot, rules and laws only apply to Republican/Conservatives. Everyone else can just do as they please without fear of consequences.
When will rhinotimes publish their endorsements for political offices?
Tomorrow.
Mail in ballots, three scary words for this election. Now “election officials” are finding a way to mess with absentee voting. A federal judge did strike down the ruling that the NC election officials just said they would do, which is count votes even if the person sending it in didn’t follow the rules ie: don’t have a witness to sign their ballot. Gosh darn these crazy rules. And the “election officials” said so far 300,000 mailings have come in, and of the ones opened “A SMALL FRACTION OF THEM, 3.5% HAVE ANY PROBLEMS OR DEFICIENCY”. Well , a little math, and SO FAR that is 10,500 votes! So, if the “election officials ” don’t find any more(?) than that’s 10,500 votes that didn’t count. Sorry, I have been going to WalMart, Home Depot and others, going to resturants, wearing a mask, washing my hands and staying 6 feet away from people, so I KNOW I CAN GO SHOW MY ID AND CAST MY VOTE IN PERSON! Wake up people, go down and make sure your VOTE counts! This is too important!
If you show up at the polls, registered, and present ID, the election process will be smooth…..AND believed. What we have now is a gigantic C-F.
I am still getting applications for mail-in ballots. I have learned that the Boards of Election SELL our personal information.
Why not open up the spare room, so that BIG BROTHER no longer needs to pretend, and can move right in with us – PERMANENTLY.
Just to be clear and present facts….
You are REQUIRED to request an absentee ballot to vote by mail. You should fill out the form completely and accurately to ensure your absentee, mail-in ballot will count regardless of what courts decide about a witness signature or other potentially missing information.
You are NOT REQUIRED to show ID when you vote in person.
It is LEGAL to request an absentee ballot then change your mind and vote in person. As long as you have not submitted your absentee, mail-in ballot, you can still vote in person.
It is ILLEGAL to “send it in and then [sic] go vote”.
It is ILLEGAL to intimidate voters.