CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina hits a new milestone as we count down to Decision 2020.
More than one million people across the state have requested an absentee ballot for the upcoming election, that's up from 85-thousand during the same time period in 2016.
Nearly half of those requests have come from registered democrats, more than 179-thousand from Republicans, and 325-thousand from unaffiliated voters.
A change that makes it easier for voters to correct mistakes on absentee ballots was announced just this week in a settlement and it's causing a big shakeup at the state board of elections.
The only two Republicans on that board the board abruptly resigned.
The proposed legal settlement would allow the post office more time to deliver absentee ballots, more time so that voters can correct ballot mistakes.
"Voting is a sacred right and the state board is working to make it secure and accessible" Governor Roy Cooper said.
But Wednesday night, two republican state board members, Ken Raymond and David Black resigned stating the democrats and attorneys for the board, misled and misinformed them.
"It's wrong for politicians to try to use politics to undermine the election," Cooper said.
Friday, the state board of elections releasing the minutes of the closed session, where the board unanimously approved the legal settlement relaxing mail-in requirements.
"Voters deserve to have full confidence in their election process to ensure voters have that confidence they deserve all the facts," Chairman Damon Circosta said. "Earlier this week two voters resigned their seats claiming that they were mislead and did not have full access to information before they took an important vote, this is simply not true."
North Carolina Republicans discuss the settlement in discontent during a Facebook live.
"An election that is fairly and legally conducted, the results will be accepted, elections that are tainted by fraud, the elections tainted by inappropriate action by the board of elections will be met with whatever resources can be brought to challenge that," Senate Leader Phil Berger said.