More than 1 million North Carolinians are expected to head to the polls Tuesday to pick a president, governor, state superintendent, state legislature and dozens of other positions that operate federal, state and local government.

North Carolina’s results will be closely watched nationally because of its status as a battleground state — one where voters could play a deciding role in who controls the White House and the U.S. House of Representatives.

Other WRAL Top Stories

Turnout tends to be higher in presidential elections — even more so when races are considered close. The 2020 election set a record for voter turnout in North Carolina, with 75% of registered voters participating. This year, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump were locked in a tie in North Carolina headed into the final days of the campaign, according to recent polls.

Here’s what you need to know if you’re voting in person on Election Day.

Who can legally vote?

All citizens of the United States who will be 18 years old by Election Day, and who aren’t currently on probation, parole or post-release supervision for a felony, are eligible to vote in their home county.

Voters must be registered, before Election Day, which is Tuesday, Nov. 5.

North Carolina takes several steps to verify that those who show up to vote are legally able to do so. First, a voter’s name and address are compared to registration rolls. Second, voters will be asked to show an approved form of photo identification.

What are voting hours?

Polls are open on Election Day from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., and everyone in line by 7:30 p.m. will be allowed to cast a ballot.

Where is my polling place?

North Carolina voters are assigned to polling places on Election Day. Outside of specific Hurricane Helene-impacted counties, voters must vote at their designated polling place on Election Day.

Voters can look up their polling places online by entering their name, date of birth and county of residents in the NC Voter Lookup tool.

Can I change my vote if I voted early?

No. Once you put your ballot in the machine during early voting or once you have mailed a ballot, it is considered cast.

If you voted early or mailed in a vote, you are finished. There are no do-overs.

If you go to vote and start filling out your ballot but make a mistake, however, you don’t have to finish that ballot. You can ask a worker at the polling place to start over with a new ballot. The first one you started filling out won’t be counted.

If you suspect a poll worker made a mistake, such as giving you the wrong ballot, alert an election official at the precinct.

Are ballots cast by dead voters counted?

No. A voter must be alive on Election Day for their vote to count.

The county boards of elections review death notices and other official sources to compare them to voter rolls. They remove any ballots cast early or by mail for voters who die before Election Day. Those votes are not counted.

When are mail-in ballots due?

In the 2024 general election, there is not a grace period for mail-in ballots. All ballots must be received at county boards of elections by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5, to count.

The U.S. Postal Service recommends mailing ballots at least one week before Election Day to be sure they arrive in time.

Mail-in ballots can also be dropped off in person on Election Day at your county board of elections. You can’t drop off a mail-in ballot at a polling place on Election Day — just the local elections office.

When are mail-in and early votes counted?

Ballots cast during early voting, as well as mail-in ballots, aren’t counted until Election Day — and results aren’t announced until after polls close, so that they don’t potentially influence people’s decision on whether to vote or not.

When will votes be final?

Nearly all votes will likely have been counted within hours of polls closing Tuesday night. Results on election night are unofficial, however.

Individual counties are in charge of counting their votes and then reporting that data to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, which then makes that data available to the public.

Based on the number of votes cast and the margin of difference, many races may be “called” and a winner declared on election night. A recount be requested in any race decided by less than 1% for local races, or 0.5% for statewide races.

No results are official until they are certified 10 days after Election Day.

During those 10 days, county elections officials research provisional ballots to determine whether they should be counted to add to the total. They audit the results, conduct any recounts, review ballots that could not be read by tabulation machines and double-check that all machines were working correctly.

Who is allowed to observe inside polling places?

Before Election Day, the political parties appoint official “observers” who are allowed inside the polling places to make sure the process runs smoothly. Those observers can take notes but they are banned from interfering with any individual voter.

The State Board of Elections posts a long list of what poll observers can and can’t do.

What are people handing out outside the polling place? Is that legal?

Anyone has the right to watch or monitor the election from outside the voting place. Any political activity — like handing out sample ballots or posting signs in favor of a candidate or party — must remain outside the buffer zone, which typically extends 50 feet from the entrance of the voting place.

Outside that buffer zone, people or the candidates themselves can approach voters in line and engage with them, including suggesting candidates and offering supporting materials.

What if I have questions while at the polling place?

For those with physical disabilities, curbside voting is available at every polling place. Look for the signs, pull up and someone will come to assist you

Inside the polling place, voters can take questions or concerns to any election official. Election officials are authorized and required to call law enforcement if they are aware of threatening behavior toward voters or workers.

Some private groups also have teams who will be at polling locations to help answer questions — or to advocate for voters if they believe the poll workers are wrong about something.

How can I report voting irregularities?

Voters who see something not quite right should first report their concern to officials at their polling place. They can also submit the state’s official Election Law Complaint Form (PDF).

You can also contact WRAL with questions by sending a tip to voterfeedback@wral.com.

Why did I get asked to use a provisional ballot?

If you arrive at the wrong polling place, forget your photo ID or there are other questions about your eligibility to vote, you may be asked to vote a “provisional ballot.”

Provisional ballots aren’t counted immediately. Elections officials hold onto them to research questions about a voter’s eligibility. Those found to be valid are then added to the total count and included when results are final and certified, 10 days after Election Day.

Is it a crime to steal or vandalize campaign signs?

Removing or stealing a political sign is a crime. Political campaign signs are generally considered personal property both when placed on private property and when lawfully placed in public places, which means removing one is considered theft.

In North Carolina, it is legal for political signs to be posted in the right-of-way of state highways between 30 days before the start of early voting and 10 days after Election Day.

How do people become poll workers?

The people who operate the polls during early voting and on Election Day are generally volunteers. Any registered voter can apply.

They set up voting equipment, check in voters, process ballots, assist voters with special needs and close and secure the voting site at the end of the day.

Precinct officials may not be a candidate or relative of a candidate in the election. They also may not be an elected government official, hold office with a political party, or be a manager or treasurer for a candidate or political party. They also may not serve at the same polling place as a spouse, child, spouse of a child, sister or brother.

How do people become poll watchers?

Poll watchers, sometimes referred to as "election observers," are individuals assigned by a political party to watch over the voting process inside a polling site.

Members of the public can’t appoint themselves to be “election observers;” they aren’t allowed to enter a voting site for the purpose of observing the election.

Election observers are prohibited from interfering with voters or the voting process.

Who counts votes in NC? How are votes counted in NC?

When you vote in person or by mail, your ballot is counted by a machine and the data stored on a memory card inside the machine. None of these machines is connected to the internet.

All counties use paper ballots, which provides an added layer protection against fraud — since the results from the machines can be compared to what’s on the ballots themselves if there are questions about the results. Most counties have voters fill out ballots by hand. Some counties use other methods, such as touchscreens. But even the touchscreens create paper ballots that can be reviewed.

After the polls close, each polling place delivers its memory cards and paper ballots to county boards of elections, which records the totals for each race and reports them to the State Board of Elections.

What changes were made after Hurricane Helene to ensure displaced people can vote?

State lawmakers authorized a number of changes to election rules that will apply only to the 25 counties in western North Carolina under emergency orders after Hurricane Helene. The changes mostly deal with voting by mail and with polling place workers and observers.

People in those counties have additional time to request a mail-in ballot — until Monday at 5 p.m., and they can go to their county election office, request a ballot, vote and return it there.

Voters in the 25 affected counties can return mail-in ballots to any county board of elections office in the state or to the State Board of Elections in Raleigh — options not open to voters who live in the rest of the state, and approved in recognition of the thousands who have been displaced from their homes.

While photo identification is required to vote for most, those who live in the Helene-affected counties won’t be required to show ID. They can show it if they want, but state law includes an automatic exemption from voter ID laws for people living in places hit by a disaster shortly before an election. Those who don’t have an ID can fill out a form and cast a provisional ballot

Local elections officials in the western counties also have additional flexibility to move poll workers from precinct to precinct on Election Day, and to transfer voters to new precinct locations, especially where polling places were destroyed or damaged in the storm or where they are inaccessible or without power by Election Day.

Voters in western North Carolina should check the state’s online voter lookup tool before heading to their polling place to make sure they know where to vote.

Election coverage