CHARLOTTE, N.C. —
North Carolina
Election Day in North Carolina is Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023. Here is your guide to voting in Tuesday's municipal elections.
Voting on Election Day
When voting on Election Day, voters must go to their assigned polling place. This is different than when voting early, where voters can cast their ballot at any early voting site.
Polling places are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. If you are in line at your assigned polling place at 7:30 p.m., you will be able to vote.
The polls are busiest in the morning and right before polls close.
Finding Your Election Day Polling Place
To find your assigned polling place, click here to enter your information into the Voter Search. Or, search using your address with the Election Day Polling Place Search.
Sample Ballots
To view a sample ballot, registered voters have to put their information into Voter Search and click "Your Sample Ballot". You can practice making selections by going to the N.C. Absentee Ballot Portal page and clicking Option 4.
Voter Assistance and Curbside Voting
If you qualify for assistance under Assistance to Voters. N.C.G.S. § 163-166.8, you may ask for help at your polling place. You can find details about accessible voting sites and receiving voting assistance here.
Blind or visually impaired voters may request, mark, and return an accessible absentee ballot online through the NC Absentee Ballot Portal
Voters living in a facility such as a hospital, clinic, or nursing home can receive assistance from a Multipartisan Assistance Team (MAT). The MAT includes at a minimum, two people who have different party affiliations (or persons unanimously appointed by a bipartisan county board of elections).
The MAT will help voters
- Providing voter registration services.
- Requesting an absentee ballot.
- Serving as an absentee witness.
- Marking the absentee ballot.
- Sealing the ballot and completing the absentee application.
- Mailing the voted absentee ballot in the closest U.S. mail depository or mailbox, if the voter has a disability.
For more detailed information, click here.
Curbside voting is available to those who are unable to enter a polling place without physical assistance due to age or disability. Learn more about the disability qualifications here.
Through curbside voting, a voter can cast a ballot while in a vehicle outside the polling place. Some sites also provide a walk-up area in addition to the drive-up area.
Curbside voting is available at each Election Day polling place and a one-stop early voting site. Signs should be in place to direct voters to the curbside voting location.
Anyone voting curbside must sign an affidavit affirming they are unable to enter the polling place to cast their ballot.
After Voting
After your ballot is inserted into a tabulator, the selections are recorded on a media card in the tabulator. The results are then counted and reported publically on election night.
You can access the Voter Search for confirmation the ballot was counted.
The ballot will show up in your Voter History section after your county completes the post-election process of assigning voter history to your record. Note, that this process may take a few weeks after Election Day.
What's your voter status?
To find your sample ballot and precinct go to the North Carolina State Board of Elections website go to the voter tools and forms section of the website and select voter search. Then put in your information as prompted and hit search. Your sample ballot and precinct will be listed along with other voter resources including your voter status.
Photo ID Required for Voting
Voters will have to show their driver's license, but there are many other acceptable photo IDs.
If a voter does not have an acceptable photo ID, they can get one for free from their county board of elections. Learn more at Get a Free Voter Photo ID.
Voters can also get a free ID card from the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles (NCDMV). Find more information under 'No-Fee ID Cards'.
All voters will be allowed to vote with or without a photo ID. If a voter cannot show a photo ID when voting in person, they can still by filling out an ID Exception form. If absentee-by-mail voters are unable to include a copy of their photo ID with their ballot return envelope, they can also fill out an ID Exception Form with their ballot.
Find more information under ID exceptions below.
In-Person Voters
Voters must show an acceptable photo ID when they check in at their voting site on Election Day.
Election workers check to see if the picture on the ID reasonably resembles the voter and if the name on the ID is the same as or very similar to the voter’s name in their registration record. The address on the photo ID does not have to match the voter registration records.
If the voter does not show an acceptable ID, the voter may proceed to vote in one of the two following ways:
- complete an ID Exception Form and then vote with a provisional ballot, or
- vote with a provisional ballot and then return to their county board of elections office with their photo ID by the day before county canvass. (For municipal elections in September and October, this deadline is the Monday following Election Day. For all other elections, the deadline is the second Thursday following Election Day.)
Absentee-By-Mail
Voters who vote by mail must include a photocopy of an acceptable ID when returning their ballot, or they may complete an ID Exception Form. The voter places the photocopy of the ID or ID Exception Form in a pocket on the outside of the ballot container envelope, which is then placed in an outer return envelope to protect the privacy of the voter.
Acceptable Photo IDs for Voting
Any of the following that is unexpired, or expired for one year or less:
- North Carolina driver’s license
- State ID from the NCDMV (also called “non-operator ID”)
- Driver’s license or non-driver ID from another state, District of Columbia, or U.S. territory (only if voter registered in North Carolina within 90 days of the election)
- U.S. Passport or U.S. Passport card
- North Carolina voter photo ID card issued by a county board of elections (see Get a Free Voter Photo ID).
- College or university student ID approved by the State Board of Elections (see box below)
- State or local government or charter school employee ID approved by the State Board of Elections (see box below)
Note: A voter 65 or older may use an expired form of acceptable ID if the ID was unexpired on their 65th birthday.
Any of the following, regardless of whether the ID contains an expiration or issuance date:
- Military or veteran ID card (with photo) issued by the U.S. government.
- Tribal enrollment card (with photo) issued by a tribe recognized by the state or federal government.
- ID card (with photo) issued by an agency of the U.S. government or the State of North Carolina for a public assistance program (Note: Although this is an acceptable form of ID under North Carolina law, the State Board is not aware of any such ID in circulation that contains a photo. All IDs for voting are required to have a photo.)
ID Exceptions
If any voter is unable to show a photo ID when voting (whether in person or by mail), they may fill out an ID Exception Form and vote their ballot. The voter will choose from the following permitted exceptions:
- The voter has a “reasonable impediment” to showing a photo ID. This means that something is preventing the voter from showing ID. The voter must provide their reason by selecting from the following choices on the form.
- Lack of transportation
- Disability or illness
- Lack of birth certificate or other documents needed to obtain an ID.
- Work or school schedule
- Family responsibilities
- Photo ID is lost, stolen, or misplaced.
- Applied for a photo ID but have not received it.
- (For mail voters only) Unable to attach a copy of photo ID (Voter must include driver’s license number or last four digits of Social Security number)
- Other reasonable impediments (if selected, the voter must write the reason on the form)
- State or federal law prohibits voters from listing the reason.
- The voter has a religious objection to being photographed.
- The voter was a victim of a natural disaster within 100 days before Election Day that resulted in a disaster declaration by the President of the United States or the Governor of North Carolina.
County boards of elections must count provisional ballots with properly completed ID Exception Forms.
South Carolina
Tuesday, November 7, is election day across South Carolina. Here are the basics that you’ll need to know before you head out to cast your ballot.
When are polls open on Election Day in South Carolina?
Most important: Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Tuesday at your local precinct listed on your Voter ID card. Double check the location at scvotes.gov if you are unsure. If you are in line to vote at 7 p.m., you will be allowed to cast your vote.
What to bring
When voting in person, you will be asked to show one of the following photo IDs at your polling place:
- SC Driver's License
- SC Department of Motor Vehicles ID Card (includes SC Concealed Weapons Permit)
- SC Voter Registration Card with Photo
- Federal Military ID (includes all Department of Defense photo IDs and the Department of Veterans Affairs Benefits card)
- US Passport
How do I check my South Carolina voter registration? Where do I vote?
Make sure your voter registration is up-to-date online at info.scvotes.gov where you can check your personal information, the location of your voting precinct, and which voting districts you are in.
How can I view my South Carolina sample ballot?
After entering your information at info.scvotes.gov, you can click on the button at the bottom of the window and view the sample ballot you will use when you cast your vote.
Your ballot is tailored to your specific information and location and therefore may differ from your friends' or family member's sample ballot if they live in a different voting district.
Can I write in a vote?
Yes. There is room on the ballot for write-in votes.
- On a touch-screen ballot, a candidate's name can be written in by touching the "write-in" space under the appropriate office. A keyboard should pop up and you can enter the candidate
- On a paper ballot, write in the candidate's name under the appropriate office using either a pen or pencil and then darken the oval next to the write-in line on the ballot. Stickers, stamps or decals with the candidate's name are not permitted.