-Information courtesy the State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement website
With Election Day quickly approaching on Tuesday, November 6, 2018, WIZS would like to take the opportunity to remind you of the upcoming deadlines and the steps to take to register to vote in North Carolina:
Register to Vote
In order to register to vote in North Carolina, a person must meet the legal qualifications to vote and complete a voter registration application. When completing the application, applicants must provide their full name, residential address, date of birth, and citizenship status. After completion, the application should be mailed to the board of elections office in the county in which the applicant resides. You can find the address of your county board of elections office by clicking here.
If the application is complete and the applicant meets all qualifications to vote, the county board of elections will mail a voter registration card to the applicant to provide notice of the registration.
Voter registration applicants who have met the voter registration deadline should expect to receive their voter card within 1 to 2 weeks. Applicants should contact their county board of elections if they do not receive their voter card within two weeks. Note: The applicant must have transmitted the registration application by the registration deadline; otherwise, the voter card will not be mailed until after the completion of the election.
Qualifications to Vote
To register to vote in North Carolina, a prospective voter must meet all of the following qualifications:
- Must be a citizen of the United States.
- Must live in the county of his/her registration, and have resided there for at least 30 days prior to the date of the election.
- Must be at least 18 years old. A prospective voter can submit a registration form up to two years before his/her 18th birthday, if and only if he/she will be 18 at the time of the next general election.
- Must not be serving a sentence for a felony conviction (including probation or parole). If a prospective voter has previously been convicted of a felony, his/her citizenship rights must be restored. For more information on voting rights for those in the North Carolina criminal justice system, click here.
- Must rescind any previous registration in any other county or state.
Voter Registration Deadline
The deadline to register to vote in North Carolina is 25 days before the date of an election. The voter registration application must be received by the applicant’s county boards of elections by this date. If an application is received after the deadline, the application may still be timely if it was mailed and it is postmarked on or before the voter registration deadline; otherwise, the application will not be processed until after the election.
For more detailed NC voting information, including One-Stop Early Voting and Same-Day Registration, click here.