A Wake County Superior Court on Thursday denied a request from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to remove his name from North Carolina ballots and reprint ballots without his name. The court also issued a pause on sending out absentee ballots until noon Friday to allow an opportunity for appeal.
This means the 100 county boards of elections will not send absentee ballots on Friday morning as scheduled to eligible voters who requested them for the 2024 general election. Instead, unless the NC Court of Appeals orders otherwise, county boards will begin sending ballots out Friday afternoon. Sept. 6 is the deadline for absentee ballot distribution under state law.
Absentee voting marks the start of voting in North Carolina for the Nov. 5 election. As of late Thursday afternoon, county boards of elections had received 130,400 absentee ballot requests, including more than 12,300 requests from military and overseas voters.
In North Carolina, any eligible voter can request, receive, and vote an absentee ballot by mail. Find more information at Vote By Mail.
2024 General Election Dates and Deadlines
Here are key dates and deadlines for the 2024 general election in North Carolina:
- Oct. 11: Voter registration deadline (5 p.m.).*
- Oct. 17: In-person early voting begins; same-day registration available.
- Oct. 29: Absentee ballot request deadline (5 p.m.).*
- Nov. 2: In-person early voting ends (3 p.m.).
- Nov. 5: General Election Day.
- Nov. 5: Absentee ballot return deadline (7:30 p.m.).*
*Voter registration and absentee voting deadlines are different for military and overseas citizen voters.