Author: Karen Brinson Bell, Executive Director
This numbered memo provides canvass dates for elections in 2021. Please also review the following existing numbered memos for additional guidance related to municipal elections:
- Minimum Number of Ballots for Municipal Elections: Numbered Memo 2019-06, which provides for the minimum number of ballots that must be ordered for municipal elections; and
- Municipal Elections: Numbered Memo 2019-03, which provides information about the temporary transfer of voters to an adjacent precinct pursuant to G.S. § 163-128 and the conduct of cross-county municipal elections for another county. Note that hand-counting of ballots continues to be prohibited.
Canvass Dates for 2021 Elections
County canvass for elections in 2021 will take place seven days after each election as follows:1
- Oct. 5 Election: Canvass Oct. 12 at 11 a.m.
- Nov. 2 Election: Canvass Nov. 9 at 11 a.m.
Deadlines that are tied to the date of the county canvass, such as deadlines for filing election protests, submitting abstracts to the State Board, sample audit counts, and recount requests, shall be calculated based on the seven-day canvass period. The deadline for provisional voters to submit HAVA documents to the county board of elections is Oct. 11 at 5 p.m. for the October election and Nov. 8 at 5 p.m. for the November election.
1 G.S. §§ 163-291, 293, and 294 provide that canvass shall be held on the seventh day following each municipal election. But see G.S. § 163-182.5(b), which provides that canvass shall be held on the tenth day after every election. To prevent the one-stop period for the November election from starting prior to the canvass of the October election, the State Board interprets G.S. §§ 163-291, 293, and 294 as providing authority for a seven-day canvass period for municipal elections.