Voter registration deadline ends Friday – Morganton News Herald

Already, like so many other events of this year, the election process has been drastically different than those of the past.

For one, many voters will be choosing to vote by mail rather than in person. According to an August article in USA Today, a Democracy Fund + UCLA Nationscape poll found that more than one-third of Americans intend to vote by mail in November’s presidential election.

The N.C. State Board of Elections website states more than 1.2 million of the state’s 7.1 million voters requested absentee ballots through Thursday. In Burke County, 5,741 voters requested absentee ballots through Sept. 30.

In North Carolina, everyone can vote by mail, but nothing is automatically mailed to voters. Instead, voters who elect to vote by mail must request an absentee ballot. Election officials must receive absentee ballot request forms by Oct. 27.

For many people across the state, this year will be the first time they vote absentee.

Misti Hull, 41, is one of those people.

“I wanted to see what the process was to (vote absentee) after hearing so much about it this election cycle,” she said. “As a busy working mother of three, I wanted to be sure I didn’t get thrown a curveball come Election Day. I also am enjoying the added time to look at the various candidates running for office.”

Typically, North Carolina requires that absentee ballots be signed by two witnesses. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, only one witness signature is required on absentee ballots this election cycle.

Throughout the state, the number of voters requesting mail-in ballots is nearly 10 times as high as the number in the 2016 election. Using the benchmark of 35 days before both elections, the State Board of Elections website lists that on Oct. 4, 2016, 111,982 ballots had been requested, compared to 1,116,696 through Sept. 29 of this year.  

According to Michael Bitzer, chairman of the political science department at Catawba College, this trend has led to an increase in returned ballots.

“We’re seeing already a lack of familiarity with the process, whether it’s signing the ballot or having the witness information completed,” Bitzer told statistical analysis website FiveThirtyEight. “There tends to be a greater number from voters who were previously in-person voters. If you look at the numbers, the ballots denied due to incomplete witness information, 55 percent of those voters had voted in person in 2016.”

If a ballot is returned, the voter has an opportunity to fix the ballot, either by an affidavit or a new ballot is issued. These “deficiencies,” as the state board refers to them, can refer to the voter signing in the wrong place, or the voter not signing the voter certification.

Deficiencies that cannot be cured include the witness or assistant not printing his or her name or address and the witness not signing the ballot or signing on the wrong line. In these cases, the ballot is considered to be spoiled. In these cases, the voter can choose to have a ballot reissued to them.

The high percentage of returned ballots has only further contributed to insecurities surrounding the legitimacy of mail-in voting.

Trish Keene, 55, said though she initially decided to use mail-in voting, she ended up changing her mind due to fears about mail-in voting.

“I normally vote early at the Burke Senior Center,” she said. “I decided to vote by mail earlier this summer when others encouraged me to. I changed my mind after I had already requested my mail-in ballot from the (Burke County) Board of Elections. I was afraid it would be delayed or lost in the mail, so I hand-carried it the Board of Elections.”

Voters who miss Friday’s registration deadline may register and cast ballots at the same time during the one-stop early voting period. 

Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 3 or dropped off in person by Nov. 6.

Dates and deadlines to know include:

• The last day to register to vote is Oct. 9.
• The early voting period runs from Oct. 15-31.
• Election officials must receive absentee ballot requests by Oct. 27.

To find one-stop early voting sites and for more information, visit www.ncsbe.gov.