North Carolina resumes processing deficient absentee ballots

NORTH CAROLINA (WWAY/AP) — North Carolina issued new guidance Monday to allow counties to deal with more than 10,000 absentee ballots with various deficiencies that have been in limbo due to court battles over the witness requirement for voting by mail.

The State Board of Elections issued a directive telling counties to immediately resume notifying voters whose ballots arrive with a range of deficiencies on how to fix the problem or start the process over.

“The State Board has directed the county boards of elections to immediately begin reaching out to voters with problems with their absentee ballots,” Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the N.C. State Board of Elections said. “Our main focus continues to be ensuring all eligible voters can successfully and safely cast ballots in this important election.”

The memo tells counties that voters who mail in ballots without a witness signature must start a new ballot and have it witnessed again. But the state board said counties can allow voters to fix more minor problems by returning a signed affidavit.

As of 1:30 p.m. Monday, nearly 1.7 million North Carolinians, or 23 percent of registered voters, had cast ballots in the 2020 general election. In-person early voting continues through October 31, and Election Day is November 3.