New North Carolina Mail-Ballot Rules Survive Midterms: Federal Judge Declines to Block Them, Thousands of Ballots at Risk

New North Carolina Mail-Ballot Rules Survive Midterms: Federal Judge Declines to Block Them, Thousands of Ballots at Risk

Federal judge lets strict rules stand

North Carolina's new mail-in and absentee ballot rules will remain in effect through the 2026 midterm election. U.S. District Judge Thomas D. Schroeder, an appointee of President George W. Bush, issued a 72-page ruling Monday evening declining to block the changes, finding that voting had already begun and that it would be "infeasible" to alter the rules again. The plaintiffs — the North Carolina Alliance for Retired Americans, North Carolina Asian Americans Together, Down Home North Carolina and two voters — sued the state board and two county boards in September.

What the rules require: signature checks and sealed inner envelopes

The State Board of Elections adopted the rules on Sept. 4 in a 3-2 party-line vote, the same day mail voting began, after the board shifted to a Republican majority in May 2025. Under the new procedures, county officials must verify signatures and spoil ballots where the signature does not clearly match the name on the voter's application — even when a voter uses a nickname, maiden name or initials. Ballots arriving in an unsealed inner envelope, or only in a sealed outer envelope, are no longer accepted.

Deadline: 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, no grace period

All absentee ballots must be received by the voter's county board of elections by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3. Postmarks do not count and there is no grace period. The deadline to request an absentee ballot was 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, with separate rules for military and overseas voters. State Board Executive Director Sam Hayes reminded voters not to assume mailing a ballot on Election Day would be sufficient.

Thousands of ballots likely rejected, Democratic strongholds hit hardest

Data shared exclusively with Democracy Docket projects thousands of ballots rejected over minor technical issues, with rejection rates as high as 7-8% in some Democratic strongholds. Common Cause compiled data from 27 counties showing a mail-ballot rejection rate of about 3%, versus 1.5% at the end of the 2022 election; at a 3% rate, roughly 3,942 ballots would be rejected statewide, based on about 188,000 mail ballots cast in 2022 reduced by 30% due to fewer requests this year. Wake and Durham counties each report about 2.5% of mail ballots spoiled solely for unsealed inner envelopes; Guilford County reports upward of 2%; Alexander County reached 6.67% as of Oct. 6. ABC11 reported preliminary State Board data showing 3.1% of absentee ballots spoiled versus 2.6% at the same point in 2022. Gov. Josh Stein said the rejection rate is twice as high as in 2022. Wake County board member Gerry Cohen counted 40 ballots discarded for lacking an inner envelope seal.

Mail requests plunge 33%, Democrats fall most

WRAL reported mail-in ballot requests down 33% compared with the same point in the 2022 midterm, with state data showing declines of 41% among registered Democrats, 27% among Republicans and 25% among unaffiliated voters; an NBC News analysis found Democratic requests 40% lower. More than 123,000 voters had requested absentee ballots by Oct. 8, with over 30,000 returned and processed before the ruling. Meanwhile, more than 924,000 North Carolinians had cast ballots, roughly 5% by mail, and in-person early voting was up almost 50% from the same point in 2022.

Voters still have a chance to fix problems

Schroeder wrote that voters who fail to seal their ballot correctly may correct the mistake or vote in person during early voting or on Election Day, and that voters whose signature is rejected for "clear evidence" it is not their name may submit another ballot or vote in person. The State Board said voters can track ballot status through BallotTrax and contact their county elections office to cure a deficient ballot.