The State Board of Elections will begin mailing out absentee by-mail ballots today to voters who have requested them for the March primary election.

Any North Carolina voter is eligible to vote absentee by mail. Primary Election Day is March 3 and the absentee by-mail ballots are due to the voter’s county board of elections by 5 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25.

In the Primary election, voters will select the political party nominees to appear on the Nov. 3 General Election ballot.

“By-mail absentee voting officially launches the 2020 primary election,” said State Board Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell in a news release. “Any registered voter in North Carolina may request a mail-in absentee ballot for the primary.”

To vote absentee, voters must complete a 2020 state absentee ballot request form. Voters who submit a valid request will receive a ballot from their county board of elections. The materials will include detailed instructions for how to complete and return the ballot, according to the State Board.

There are changes to the absentee voting process this year, including that an absentee request form is only valid if returned to the county board by the voter, the voter’s near relative, legal guardian or Multipartisan Assistance Team (MAT); forms cannot be emailed or faxed; and, if a voter needs help completing the request form due to blindness, disability or inability to read or write and a relative or legal guardian is not available, they can get help from another person, who must list their name and address on the form.

There are five primary ballots available to voters representing the following political parties: Constitution, Democratic, Green, Libertarian and Republican. Voters affiliated with one of those political parties must vote with that primary ballot — unaffiliated voters can choose a Republican, Democratic or Libertarian primary ballot, or a nonpartisan one if available.

One-stop, in-person early voting for the primary begins Thursday, Feb. 13 and runs through Saturday, Feb. 29. A photo-ID is not required to vote in the primary election.

Visit the State Board’s absentee voting page online for more information.

Absentee ballots are in the mail to voters across North Carolina.
https://www.yourdailyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_absentee-ballot.jpgAbsentee ballots are in the mail to voters across North Carolina.

Robert Leininger

Editor

Reach Robert Leininger at [email protected] or [email protected]