Yesterday, Sept. 29, boards of elections in Wake County and across the state of North Carolina began examining the first batch of returned mailed ballots and then processing them – opening them and running them through the tabulators.
It is a process they will repeat every week up to and including Election Day, Nov. 3, and until Thursday, Nov. 12. The local election boards have to canvass and certify the results of the elections on Friday, Nov. 13.
Gary Sims, the director of Wake County elections, said Wake County has sent out 176,484 ballots to voters and received 40,676 of those. He said he had no idea how many more absentee by mail ballots would be requested but suggested that since early voting begins Oct. 15 there might not be many more. The last date to request a mail-in ballot is Oct. 27.
There were 384 incomplete ballots because of missing information on the ballot envelope. The requirement is that the voter signs the envelope and then the witness writes his name, writes his address and then signs with his name. The state board of elections has decided that those incomplete ballots can be resolved. The local board of elections will send a letter to the voter asking for the missing information. (Editor’s note: Some of this is being hotly contested by state Republican officials although the two Republicans on the state board voted with their Democratic counterparts in approving the process.)
Wake County has 776,435 registered voters. Of those, 284,503 are Democrats, 185,674 are Republicans, 5,847 are Libertarians and 299,635 are unaffiliated. The last date to register to vote in Oct. 9 but you can also register to vote at an early-voting site.
If you have not voted but want to request a ballot by mail or find out other information about voting, go to www.readytovote.com. Also, if you have mailed in your ballot you can find out if it was accepted by going to https://northcarolina.ballottrax.net/voter.
The 17 days of early voting runs from Thursday, Oct. 15, through Saturday, Oct. 31, and includes three Saturdays and two Sundays. In Wake Forest the early-voting site is the Northern Regional Center on East Holding Avenue where you can get in line – socially distanced to vote or drive up in your vehicle for curbside voting.
The early voting sites are open from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on every weekday, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the first two Saturdays but from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the third Saturday, Oct. 31. The hours on the two Sundays, Oct. 18 and 25, are from 1 to 6 p.m. Again, all this information is on the elections board website.
The Wake County Board of Elections is responsible for conducting all elections held in the county. The board establishes election precincts and voting sites; appoints and trains precinct officials; prepares and distributes ballots and voting equipment; certifies ballots cast in elections; and investigates any voting irregularities. The Wake County Board of Elections also maintains voter registration and voting records of more than 759,000 residents.
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