Eligible individuals who want to cast their ballot on Election Day 2020 have until Friday, October 9 to register to vote.
To register, eligible individuals have the following options:
- Complete a North Carolina Voter Registration Application and return it to their county board of elections office by 5 p.m. October 9. If an application is received after the deadline, it will be timely if it is postmarked on or before October 9. If the postmark is missing or unclear, the application will be processed if it is received in the mail no later than 20 days before the election. Otherwise, the application will not be processed until after the election. If submitted by fax or email, the application must be received by 5 p.m. October 9, and a hard copy of the document delivered to the county board by 20 days before the election.
- Existing NC Division of Motor Vehicles’ customers may register to vote online.
“We encourage all eligible individuals to register to vote and make their voice heard in 2020,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections. “It’s easy, and there’s still time, either through the regular process or at any one-stop early voting location in your county.”
Same-day Registration Available During Early Voting Period
Individuals who miss Friday’s deadline may register and vote at the same time during the one-stop early voting period, October 15-31, at any early voting site in their county. County-by-county early voting sites and schedules are available at the State Board’s One-Stop Early Voting Site Search. (For early voting sites statewide, see this PDF.)
Except under rare circumstances, North Carolina residents may not register to vote on Election Day.
To register to vote, a person must:
- Be a U.S. citizen;
- Live in the county of his/her registration, and have lived there for at least 30 days before the date of the election;
- Be at least 18 years old or will be by the date of the general election. 16- and 17-year-olds may preregister to vote; AND
- Not be serving a sentence for a felony conviction, including probation, parole, or post-release supervision.*
*By order of the court, you may now register and vote if you are serving an extended term of probation, post-release supervision, or parole, you have outstanding fines, fees, or restitution, and you do not know of another reason that your probation, post-release supervision, or parole was extended.
Updating Your Registration
The voter registration application may be used to change any voting information, including name, address, and party affiliation. The change notification must be signed and should be sent to the voter’s county board of elections by October 9.
Updates to name, address, and party affiliation must be signed, but can be provided by fax or email to your county board of elections. A wet ink (physical) signature is not required for voter registration updates in the same county.
DMV customers may update their voter registration residential or mailing address and party affiliation through the DMV service. This service does not currently allow voters to change their name.
Registered voters also may update an existing registration at a one-stop early voting site during the early voting period.
For more about registering to vote, visit the State Board website here: https://www.ncsbe.gov/registering
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