RALEIGH — As of 1:30 p.m. Monday, about 1.7 million registered voters in North Carolina had cast ballots in the 2020 general election, according to the state Board of Elections.

An estimated 10,000 of those submitted ballots have deficiencies that need to be corrected, and county boards of elections are now contacting voters whose absentee ballots weren’t properly completed to inform them on how to make the necessary corrections. The ballots with these issues are not counted until they are corrected.

“The State Board has directed the county boards of elections to immediately begin reaching out to voters with problems with their absentee ballots,” Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the N.C. State Board of Elections, said in a statement. “Our main focus continues to be ensuring all eligible voters can successfully and safely cast ballots in this important election.”

Because of ongoing litigation, North Carolina’s ballot correcting process had been on hold since October 4.

The State Board on Monday reissued Numbered Memo 2020-19, updating guidance on curing deficient absentee ballots based on recent court decisions.

If a voter who received assistance with filling out their ballot returns their ballot without a witness signature, a new ballot will be issued to the voter. The original ballot will be nullified, according to the State Board.

There are two other deficiencies that require the original ballot to be nullified; one is if the envelope containing the ballot is unsealed when it arrives at the county board office, and the other is if the envelope indicates that the voter is requesting a replacement ballot. Several other deficiencies can be corrected by sending the voter a certification. Those deficiencies happen when the voter doesn’t sign their Voter Certification, signs their name in the wrong place, or if the witness and/or the voter fail to print their names or addresses.

In a separate memo released Monday, the State Board directed county boards of elections to accept absentee ballots received in the mail through 5 p.m. Nov. 12, provided that they are postmarked on or before Election Day, Nov. 3.

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