State election guidance requires replacement ballots when inner envelopes are returned unsealed.
RALEIGH, NC — The North Carolina State Board of Elections is reminding absentee voters to carefully follow vote-by-mail instructions, including sealing the inner ballot envelope before returning completed ballots. Under guidance approved by the board, absentee ballots returned with an unsealed inner envelope must be rejected and a replacement ballot issued to the voter.
The requirement is part of absentee ballot processing guidance approved September 4 by the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
Under the guidance, county boards of elections must issue replacement ballots when absentee ballots arrive with an unsealed inner envelope or are not packaged according to required procedures.
According to official vote-by-mail instructions published by the North Carolina State Board of Elections, voters must place their completed ballot inside the designated inner envelope, seal that envelope, and then place it inside the outer return envelope before sealing and returning it.
A federal court allowed the absentee ballot requirements to remain in effect. In an October 20 ruling, US District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder declined to block the procedures, noting that voters whose ballots are not properly sealed have opportunities to correct the issue by casting a replacement ballot, voting in person during early voting, or on Election Day.
Election officials are encouraging absentee voters to return mail-in ballots and monitor their ballot status through the state’s BallotTrax system. Official Ballot Tracking Portal
For additional information on absentee voting, ballot tracking, and election requirements, voters may visit the North Carolina State Board of Elections website at www.ncsbe.gov
Sources:
NC State Board of Elections Vote-by-Mail
NC State Board of Elections – absentee ballots
Federal court ruling – absentee ballot procedures.
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