Don’t throw away your shot: How and when you can vote in North Carolina

If you are planning to vote in the midterm elections, there are some very important deadlines coming up. The first deadline is 5 p.m. this Friday, Oct. 9, which is the voter registration deadline.

If you are eligible to vote, you can complete your registration online or in person at the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles.

You also have the option of filling out the registration form and delivering it or mailing it back to the N.C. State Board of Elections. It’ll be accepted as long as it is postmarked by Oct. 9.

Early in-person voting begins on Thursday, Oct. 15. If you missed the Oct. 9 registration deadline, you can still take advantage of same-day registration during early voting.

Unlike on Election Day, during early voting you can vote at any location in your county. You can look up early voting locations here. Early in-person voting will wrap up at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31.

If you’d like to see your sample ballot before you go to vote, you can look it up here.

More absentee ballots in NC in danger of being tossed under new directives

If your plan is to vote by mail, Tuesday, Oct. 20 is the deadline to request an absentee ballot. And it must be received – not postmarked – by your county Board of Elections office no later than 7:30 p.m. on Election Day in order to be counted.

If you requested an absentee ballot but worry it may not arrive in the mail by Election Day, you are still allowed to vote in person. Election officials simply ask that you discard the unused absentee ballot and not return it to the Board of Elections to avoid confusion.

If you’ve changed your address recently or wish to change party affiliation, click here to learn how to update your voter registration. You can also make changes to your registration in person if you use early voting.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polling sites are open from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. statewide. You must go to your assigned voting site to make sure your vote will count. Click here to find your Election Day polling place.