CHARLOTTE, N.C. — If you plan to vote early in the Democratic primary for Charlotte's municipal election this year, the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections says more sites are open now to cast your ballots before primary day.
Early voting for the partisan primary started on Aug. 24 at the Hal Marshall Annex on North College Street in Charlotte. As of Sept. 5, nine new sites opened up for ballots to be cast early:
- The Allegra Westbrooks Regional Library at 2411 Beatties Ford Road
- Elon Park Recreational Center at 11401 Ardrey Kell Road in the Ballantyne area
- The Independence Regional Library at 6000 Conference Drive
- The Marion Diehl Rec Center at 2219 Tyvola Road
- Thee County Regional Library at 5801 Rea Road
- The Southpark Regional Library at 7015 Carnegie Boulevard
- The Steele Creek Library at 13620 Steele Creek Road
- The old Kohls on 9315 North Tryon Street in the University City area
- The West Boulevard Library at 2157 West Boulevard
All 10 sites are open from Tuesday, Sept. 5 through Friday, Sept. 8, from 8 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. Additionally, the sites will be open from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 9, which is the last day of early voting. Anyone still in line at 3 p.m. that day will be permitted to vote.
The date of the primary election is Tuesday, Sept. 12. More details about early voting for this primary can be found here, while information about voting on primary day can be seen here.
MORE VOTING INFORMATION:
MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS
Municipal elections will take place over three separate dates. Voters can go here to find out the date of their municipal election, if their municipality is holding a primary and if absentee voting is allowed.
There is also a local voter tool for mobile users.
2023 MUNICIPAL ELECTION DATES:
- Tuesday, Sept. 12: Municipal Partisan Primary Election (in some counties, including Mecklenburg)
- Tuesday, Oct. 10: Municipal Elections
- Tuesday, Nov. 7: Municipal Elections (Mecklenburg)
The following 10 counties do not have 2023 municipal elections:
- Clay County
- Craven County
- Currituck County
- Gates County
- Henderson County
- Hyde County
- Person County
- Polk County
- Stanly County
- Surry County
VOTER REGISTRATION INFORMATION AND DEADLINES
In North Carolina, the civilian voter registration deadline is 25 days before the election. Since the 2023 municipal primary elections and elections are spread across three dates, here are the voter registration deadlines:
- Aug, 18: Voter registration deadline for municipal elections held on Sept. 12.
- Sept. 15: Voter registration deadline for municipal elections held on Oct. 10.
- Oct. 13: Voter registration deadline for municipal elections held on Nov. 7.
For military or overseas voters, the voter registration deadline is 5 p.m. on the day before the election. Learn more about military and overseas voting here.
Mail-In Voter Registration Applications:
The completed application must be postmarked by the county's voter registration deadlines (see above).
The county board of elections in which a person is registering to vote must receive the application no later than 20 days before a primary or election.
Learn more about registering to vote by mail here.
Same-Day Registration:
If you miss your voter registration deadline, you will be able to register during early voting at early voting sites. This is called "same-day registration" and you can learn more about the process here.
NEW VOTER ID REQUIREMENTS
Beginning this election year, North Carolina voters must show photo identification in order to vote.
Valid forms of IDs:
- 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 veterans 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.)
Don’t have an acceptable photo ID for voting? North Carolina registered voters can get one from their county board of elections using these instructions.
VOTING BY MAIL
It is important to note that not all municipalities give the option to vote by mail. Check here to see if you can vote by mail at your voting site.
- Absentee-by-mail voter ballots must be received by a voter's county board of elections by 5 p.m. on election day (see municipal election dates above).
- If an absentee ballot is received after 5 p.m. on election day, it will only be counted if it is postmarked on or before election day. It must be received by mail no later than 5 p.m. on the Friday following the election.
- Ballots with no postmark must be received by election day
- For the November 7 municipal election, ballots must be received by the Monday following the election due to Veterans Day on Friday, Nov. 10, when there is no mail service.
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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