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Voting Rights
October 11 marked the voter registration deadline by mail, online, or at the board of elections or DMV for the November election, but same-day registration is still available during early voting. Early voting will take place beginning the morning of October 17 and ending November 2 at 3 PM. Mail-in ballots must be requested by October 29 for most voters (and by November 4 for voters in 25 counties affected by Hurricane Helene), and completed mail-in ballots must be received by 7:30 PM on Election Day (November 5) to be counted. Voter photo ID must be presented when voting, or you must fill out a form explaining your “reasonable impediment” to obtaining an ID, in which case you will be given a provisional ballot. You can check your registration and find your polling place using North Carolina’s voter search tool.
Last week the State Board of Elections unanimously passed an emergency resolution to modify voting rules for counties impacted by Hurricane Helene. The resolution expands the locations allowed for voters to return absentee ballots to include Election Day polling places and other counties’ elections boards and provides more opportunities for voters to pick up absentee ballots in person until November 4. The resolution also grants county elections boards the power to implement other emergency measures, such as setting up additional polling locations, transferring voters to other precincts, and adjusting early voting site hours. County boards, including Buncombe County, responded quickly with new early voting plans. On Thursday, North Carolina Elections Director Karen Brinson Bell announced that 75 out of 80 originally planned early voting sites in the region will open as planned.
Economic Policy
On Thursday Governor Cooper signed a disaster relief package into law that responds to destruction caused by Hurricane Helene. HB 149, which legislators called a “first step” in disaster relief efforts, allocates $273 million in relief funds. Most of that will act as a match for federal relief funding, with additional portions going toward salaries for nutrition staff at closed schools and support for the State Board of Elections emergency voting response. The bill also allows schools impacted by the storm to make schedule and teaching modality adjustments. Legislators return to Raleigh on October 24 and will likely pass additional disaster relief bills then.
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