Absentee Voting by Mail
How do I get an absentee ballot?
You must make a handwritten request for an absentee ballot from your County Board of Elections
The request must be received by your county board of elections no later than 5:00 p.m. on the last Tuesday prior to the election. If the voter is qualified, the absentee balloting materials will be mailed to the voter after the receipt of a valid written request. Absentee voters must return their voted ballot to the board of elections by 5:00 p.m. on the day before the election.
The absentee ballot request must include:
- name of voter
- residential address of voter (where they are registered to vote)
- mailing address of voter (if different from residential address)
- date of birth of voter
- signature of voter (or near relative,* with relationship to voter indicated)
When you receive the ballot, be sure to follow the directions carefully, including having signatures of two witnesses. Your completed ballot must reach the County office by 5pm Monday the day before the election.
*Near relatives may request absentee ballots for a spouse, sibling, parent, grandparent, child/grandchild, mother/father-in law, daughter/son-in law, step-parent, or stepchild.
Ask your county’s Board of Elections [table at the NC BOE site] for details. Note that in the table, the county names are links to county websites.
Check Your Registration
You can look up your registration info to confirm that you are registered and view your polling place (with map and sometimes pictures) NC Voter Lookup [at NC BOE] page. At the page, search for yourself; once you have located your record, click on your name in the result to get more details (such as the precinct and polling place).
You can also check the polling place and precinct by entering your address in the NC Statewide Precinct Finder [at NC BOE] page.