It's election season: Absentee ballots heading out, sample ballots ready

Mail-in ballots start going out this week to people who have requested them, and a series of other election milestones hit in the coming weeks as North Carolina heads toward the May 17 primary elections.

Posted 6:51 p.m. Mar 28, 2022 — Updated 8:25 p.m. Mar 28, 2022

Travis Fain

, WRAL state government reporter

Mail-in ballots start going out this week to people who've requested them, and a series of other election milestones hit in the coming weeks as North Carolina heads toward the May 17 primary elections.

Sample ballots, which you can use to plan your vote, should be available online this week as well, and you can pull them up through the same state voter information site that lets you check your voter registration.

April 22 is the deadline to register to vote, though North Carolina also offers same-day registration, which also allows people to register to vote during the early in-person voting period that starts April 28 and continues until May 14.

You can do this at early voting locations in your county at the same time you vote. Your local board of elections should post locations and hours.

This year's primaries feature contested elections for the U.S. Senate, multiple congressional districts, much of the North Carolina General Assembly, judicial races including the state Supreme Court and a number of local races, including some municipal races delayed from last year.

If you're registered with a political party you may only vote in that party's primary, but if you're registered as an unaffiliated voter you pick the primary you vote in when you order your ballot, or when you show up to vote in person.

If you want to vote by mail, May 10 will be the last day to request a mail-in ballot, which you can do through your county board of elections or online. You'll need to provide your full name, date of birth, address and either your driver's license number, DMV ID number or the last four digits of your social security number.

If you vote by mail you can track your ballot's status through a service called BallotTrax.

Those who vote in person will not need to show photo ID. North Carolina law requires it, but that law has been challenged in multiple lawsuits and is on hold in the meantime.

If runoffs are needed, those will be held July 26, but a candidate in a crowded race need only top 30% of the vote to win in North Carolina. Primary winners move on to the general elections, which are slated for Nov. 8.

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