Absentee Ballot Process for North Carolina

Mail-in absentee voting is available in NC and no excuse is required for registered voters. The last day to request an absentee ballot is 7 days before the election. Your ballot must be postmarked by Election Day in order to be counted. Ballots without a postmark must be received by Election Day. You can sign up to track your absentee ballot on your State Board of Elections website. 

There are two ways to access and submit the official N.C. Absentee Ballot Request form:

1. Online with “Option 1 – Request an Absentee Ballot” at the N.C. Absentee Ballot Portal.
2. On paper with the English N.C. Absentee Ballot Request Form for 2022 (fillable PDF) or the English N.C. Absentee Ballot Request Form for 2022 (non-fillable print-only PDF)

Voting by mail in North Carolina takes three simple steps — requesting, completing, and returning a ballot. Find more information at Detailed Instructions to Vote By Mail.

Voting and Returning your Mailed-In Absentee Ballot:

Once you receive your ballot, you must vote the ballot in the presence of two witnesses (or one witness if the witness is a notary-public). Once voted, you must seal the ballot in the return envelope and complete the information on the back of the return envelope. The witnesses must complete and sign the envelope in the space assigned to them. If someone assists the voter, they must sign and date the certificate as well.

The voted ballot must be returned no later than 5pm on the night of the election, or postmarked on or before Election Day and received by 5 p.m. three days after the election.

• The Voter can return their mailed ballot to their county board of elections office or to a one-stop early voting site in their county.
• If returning to the county board of elections office on Election Day, it must be received by 5 p.m.
• The Voter may not return their mailed ballot to a polling place on Election Day.

Overseas citizens and U.S. military personnel can find information on how to register to vote and request an absentee ballot at the Overseas Vote Foundation.

Those who requested an absentee ballot but end up voting in person: Requesting an absentee ballot will not record you in the system as having voted. If you do not vote your absentee ballot, you may vote in person during the early voting period or on Election Day. You may simply discard your absentee ballot. There is no need to bring it with you to a polling place.