Midterm voter participation in North Carolina set a new record tonight. As of 10:34PM, 2,717,920 voters had cast ballots. In 2010, turnout was 2,700,393.
More North Carolinians voted early and within fewer days than in any prior midterm election. This was the first general election held under a compacted 10-day one-stop early voting schedule. Polls will open tomorrow at 6:30AM and close 7:30PM, and those in line at closing time will be permitted to vote.
The State Board of Elections today completed an audit of more than 10,000 registered voters with questionable citizenship status. The Agency analyzed data provided by the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to flag 1,425 currently registered voters who are likely non-citizens.
The U.S. Supreme Court today stayed a federal appeals court order that would have enjoined parts of North Carolina’s new voting law regarding same-day registration and out-of-precinct voting. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented.
The Fourth Circuit today reinstated same-day registration and out-of-precinct voting ahead of the General Election in November. A divided panel ordered the lower court to enjoin enforcement of new election procedures that eliminated same-day registration and required that a voter cast her ballot in her properly assigned precinct. Judge Diana Gribbon Motz dissented.
Sept. 23 is National Voter Registration Day, and the State Board of Elections has announced that its rolls grew by nearly 1.5 million over the last decade.
The special filing period in three judicial races closed today at noon. An updated report of all filed candidates from this special filing period will be posted on the State Board of Elections website.
A federal judge in Winston-Salem today denied a petition to enjoin the State Board of Elections’ implementation of new voting laws enacted in August 2013.