CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tuesday, Nov. 8, is Election Day for the 2022 midterm election. With so much at stake, including control of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, tens of thousands of voters took advantage of early voting in North Carolina and South Carolina.
So now that you've actually voted, how do you know when your vote is counted? This story will detail how you can track your ballot to ensure it was counted in North Carolina or South Carolina.
How to know your vote counted in North Carolina
Depending on which voting method you use, there are different ways of knowing your North Carolina ballot was received and counted by the county board of elections.
If you vote in person, ballots are directly inserted into a tabulator at the polling place. When a voter does this, their selections are immediately recorded on a memory card and stored there until the State Board of Elections imports them on Election Night as part of the unofficial results.
All votes in North Carolina are cast on paper ballots or ballot-marking devices that produce a paper record for tabulation. The paper trail serves as a backup that can be recounted or audited to confirm results.
In-person, early voting
If you vote during the early voting period, you can check the status of your ballot in the "Your Absentee Ballot" section of the Voter Search database on the North Carolina elections website. Voters can enter their first and last name, as well as county to pull up their record.
If you voted during early voting, the absentee status will show up as "VALID RETURN." The return method will read "IN PERSON," with a return status of "ACCEPTED." This is typically updated the day after a voter casts an in-person ballot at an early voting site.
A voter's ballot status will also show up in the "Voter History" section once their county completes the post-election process of assigning voter history to your record. This process can take a couple of weeks or longer.
In-person on Election Day
When someone votes in person on Election Day, their selections are recorded on a media card in the tabulator. These results are counted and reported publicly on election night.
Voters can use this "Voter Search" tool to ensure their ballot was counted.
Absentee by mail
Once a voter's absentee ballot is received by the county board of elections, it will show up in the voter search database. Absentee status will show as "VALID RETURN," with the return method being "MAIL" and return status as "ACCEPTED" or "ACCEPTED-CURED."
Ballot status will also show up in the voter history section once the county completes the post-election process of assigning voter history to your record.
Provisional ballots
Voters who submitted a provisional ballot can check the status of their ballot 10 days after the election through the Provisional Search tool. All four fields on the form must be filled out, including the PIN number given to voters when provided their ballot.
How to know your vote counted in South Carolina
South Carolina allows voters to track the status of their absentee ballots. Voters in South Carolina can track their ballot's status using the state's tool on the SC Votes website.
Voters will be prompted to enter their personal information as it appears on their voter registration card. This information includes county, first name, last name, date of birth and the last four digits of their Social Security number.
Absentee ballots must be returned by 7 p.m. on Election Day. Early and absentee voting totals are updated daily on scVOTES.gov.
Flashpoint is a weekly in-depth look at politics in Charlotte, North Carolina, South Carolina, and beyond with host Ben Thompson. Listen to the podcast weekly.
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