RALEIGH, N.C. — After some uncertainty about when exactly absentee ballots would be sent out to North Carolina citizens, the state Board of Elections announced a new schedule for when county officials are required to send out ballots.
According to the new schedule, county officials will have until Sept. 20 to send out absentee ballots to eligible military or overseas citizens who requested them. The deadline for absentee ballots to be sent out to the rest of the voters who requested them is Sept. 24.
This change will allow NC to meet a federal law that requires the distribution of ballots to voters under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) by the 45th day before the general election, which would have been Sept. 21.
“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 state ran into delays after the N.C. Court of Appeals and the N.C. Supreme Court ruled that new ballots would need to be printed without the "We The People" candidate for president, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Before the ruling, county boards of elections were looking to mail ballots out to voters last week in accordance with the state's deadline for absentee voting. Revised ballots now have to be created and sent to voters.
According to the Board, the cost of reprinting ballots varied by county, costing up to a "few thousand dollars" in smaller areas to an estimated $300,000 in Wake County.
Below is a list of key dates for the 2024 general election:
- Oct. 11: Voter registration deadline
- Oct. 17: In-person early voting begins; same-day registration available.
- Oct. 29: Absentee ballot request deadline
- Nov. 2: In-person early voting ends
- Nov. 5: General Election Day
- Nov. 5: Absentee ballot return deadline
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