In split vote, NC approves new mail-in ballot guidelines hours before voting begins

Kyle Ingram, The News & Observer on Sep 4, 2026

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RALEIGH, N.C. — In a split vote, the North Carolina State Board of Elections approved new guidelines for mail-in ballots on Friday, just hours before those ballots were sent to voters.

The new policies do not change how ballots are delivered to voters who have requested them, but they do alter the standards by which election officials decide whether to count a returned mail-in ballot.

“The voter experience in casting their ballots will not change,” said Stacy “Four” Eggers, a Republican member of the board. “This (policy) is simply guidance — updated guidance, I might add — as to what the board and staff at the county level will do and how they will process things.”

But Siobhan Millen, a Democratic member of the board, disagreed.

“This does affect the voter,” she said. “It may not affect you as you’re filling it out, but it affects whether your ballot counts — that’s huge. So, an effort to say this is just a process thing, I think is incorrect.”

A major point of contention among the board was a provision that directs county officials to “spoil” a mail-in ballot if the inner envelope containing the ballot is not properly sealed. In this scenario, the returned ballot would not be counted, but the affected voter would be contacted and sent a new one. They could also still vote in-person.

Other provisions in the memos include:

•Specifying that, in most cases, only a voter’s near relative or legal guardian can deliver their mail-in ballot in-person on their behalf.

•Requiring officials to spoil a ballot if the voter’s signature does not match the name assigned to the application number on the return envelope.

•Requiring officials to spoil a ballot if the return envelope includes more than one ballot.

The changes passed in a party-line vote, with the board’s two Democrats dissenting.

Changes come after permanent rules were blocked

Friday’s guidelines were approved as numbered memos — a less permanent form of policymaking. However, the board’s Republican majority had already attempted to institute similar guidance as a permanent rule.

Last week, the state’s Rules Review Commission unanimously approved those proposals — but they were blocked from taking effect in this year’s elections due to a provision in state law that delays such rules if 10 or more formal objections are received. The rules now must be reviewed by the state legislature at their next session before they can take effect.

When Republicans took control of the elections board last year, following controversial legislation that stripped Democratic Gov. Josh Stein of his appointments to the board, they announced an intention to rely less on numbered memos and prioritize permanent rulemaking.

With Friday’s vote, Millen said the board was now circumventing the very process it intended to embrace.

“To my mind, we’re doing an end run around the process that we said we wanted to do,” she said.

Eggers argued that the permanent rules would eventually go into effect following legislative review, so Friday’s vote was justified.

“What is proposed will be a consistent approach because the Rules Review Commission has unanimously reviewed these rules,” he said. “I will anticipate them to become the permanent rules that are associated with this.”

On Friday, Gov. Stein came out against the new guidance, noting that he filed one of the formal objections to the permanent rule last week.

“The State Board’s decision is a slap in the face to voters who stood up to these changes and a blatant circumvention of the law,” he wrote on social media. “North Carolina voters deserve transparency in their elections, not last-minute workarounds that could keep their vote from counting. I will continue to stand up for voters’ access to the ballot box.”

North Carolina is the first state in the nation to begin sending out mail-in ballots. Voting will begin as President Donald Trump’s administration continues to attempt to institute new restrictions on absentee ballots. Those changes are currently blocked by a federal court.

How to vote by mail

Voters who wish to cast their ballot by mail can request an absentee ballot using the state’s online absentee ballot portal. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is Oct. 20 at 5 p.m., but officials recommend that voters do so sooner to give themselves enough time to turn their ballot in.

Mail-in ballots must be received by the voter’s county board of elections by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 3. As an alternative to mailing the ballot in, voters can choose to drop it off in-person at any early voting site.

Absentee voters can track the status of their ballot using the online service BallotTrax.