Ballots start flowing to NC voters Friday, kicking off 2024 election with new rules

The 2024 elections officially begin this week in North Carolina. Ballots will start being mailed out Friday to the more than 5,000 voters who have already requested to use mail-in voting for the primary elections.

Primary Election Day is still 47 days away, on March 5. But with mail-in voting about to kick off — and early voting starting next month — state elections officials are pushing to make sure people know about the state’s new photo identification rules for voting.

11:30:37 “This is of course a big election for North Carolina,” Karen Brinson Bell, who leads the State Board of Elections, told reporters Thursday. “Not only are we part of the Super Tuesday primary to decide the presidential nominees, it’s also a high profile election for North Carolina.”

All of North Carolina’s congressional seats are up for grabs. And North Carolina is sure to have a new governor, since Gov. Roy Cooper is term-limited. There are also high-stakes races for the state legislature, state Supreme Court and Council of State offices, among others.

Brinson Bell added that because of all that, “We expect, and hope, for a lot of citizen involvement and strong turnout — for not only the primary, but the general election.” 11:31:11

Part of ensuring a smooth election will require ensuring that voters know about the new rules, as well as the opportunity for people without photo identification to get a free one at their local county elections board office.

Voter ID rules technically went into effect in the 2023 municipal elections, but the vast majority of North Carolinians didn’t participate in those. So for most people, the 2024 elections will be their introduction to the new rules.

People who vote in person will have to show an acceptable ID to poll workers or fill out a form explaining why they don’t have an ID.

People who vote by mail will have to photocopy their ID and send that in along with their ballot. Or if they don’t have an ID, they’ll also have to mail in a form explaining why not.

More details about voter ID rules and what’s considered an acceptable ID — as well as other topics like how to register, find sample ballots, request mail-in ballots or learn about different voting options — can be found online at www.ncsbe.gov/voting.

Here are some important dates to note for the 2024 primaries:

• Jan. 19: County boards of elections begin mailing absentee ballots.
• Feb. 9: Voter registration deadline (5 p.m.).
• Feb. 15: Early voting begins. See your county elections board website for details.
• Feb. 27: Deadline to request mail-in ballots (5 p.m.)
• March 2: Early voting ends (3 p.m.).
• March 5: Election Day (polls close 7:30 p.m.)