North Carolina Board Agrees to More Absentee Ballot Changes
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina election officials agreed Tuesday that mail-in absentee ballots returned this fall with deficient information can be fixed without forcing the voter to fill out a new blank ballot. The change, if it stands, would likely yield an upward tick in the number of counted ballots in this presidential battleground state.
The State Board of Elections issued the new guidance to county boards explaining residents won’t be forced to start over from scratch in casting votes if a witness fails to sign or provide an address on the envelope containing their absentee ballot. The guidance means that the ballot now won’t be considered “spoiled,” and the voter will be sent an affidavit to sign to rectify the problem.
Issues with deficient witness information on mail-in ballots have disproportionately affected Black voters. Ballots cast by African Americans account for about 43 percent of those classified as having incomplete witness information, according to state elections data. Yet Black residents account for 16 percent of overall ballots returned.
Marc Elias, a Democratic lawyer who helped sue in North Carolina court to seek the changes and has worked on similar absentee ballot litigation elsewhere, praised the decision.
Read more: https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte/news/2020/09/22/north-carolina-board-agrees-to-additional-absentee-ballot-changes