RALEIGH — North Carolinians who voted on Election Day might not yet be seeing the record of their vote in their histories on the N.C. State Board of Elections website.
The state is already obligated to give absentee ballots until Nov. 12 to arrive, nine days after Election Day, due to the board’s controversial consent agreement that resulted in Republican members of the board resigning and challenges that ultimately ended up at the U.S. Supreme Court.
To add to the frustration, the lack of data for Election Day voters has created anxiety and a flurry of social media posts in the last 48 hours. The NCSBE issued a press release assuring voters that their votes were counted.
According to the NCSBE, both their office and county boards of elections have been “inundated with questions from voters about whether their ballot was counted.” The NCSBE said that “in almost every single case, the answer will be yes,” but that if you voted on Election Day “it will take time” for your voter histories to be updated because the county boards of elections need to “first complete post-election processes.”
“If you voted in person and inserted your ballot into a tabulator, your selections were immediately recorded on a memory card, and your votes were reported on election night as part of the unofficial results,” the NCSBE executive director Karen Brinson Bell said in a statement on Wednesday. “We respectfully ask that voters trust their bipartisan boards of elections across North Carolina. We are here to make sure your votes count, and they will.”
The delay in being able to view one’s Election Day voting records has caused concern with voters across the state. That concern was compounded by the fact that voters who used mail-in absentee ballots and one-stop early voting are able to see the record of their vote in their voter profile on the NCSBE website. North Carolina law states that all early voting methods are considered absentee votes.
“Please be patient as your county boards of elections work extremely hard to ensure all ballots are counted and results are audited and certified,” Brinson Bell said. “With these options, voters can have peace of mind that their voice was heard in this election.”
While the NCSBE’s statement calmed fears that votes were not being counted, their statement created new ones about how long those who voted on Election Day may have to wait to see their histories updated.
“This may take a couple of weeks or longer after the election,” the NCSBE’s statement reads.
The statement also says that while those who early voted, either in-person or by mail-in ballot, can see the status of their vote in their profile, that status will not be moved into the “Voter History” section until the voter’s county completes the necessary post-election processes.” The NCSBE also said that as with election day voter information, this process also “may take a couple of weeks or longer.”
To check one’s voter status, use this address and follow the informational prompts on the page: https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup/
Those who case a provisional ballot can check the status of their ballot 10 days after the election through the search tool provided by the NCSBE: https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegProvPIN/.
