CLAY COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS
Absentee voting is comprised of two methods by which registered voters may cast ballots
other than the traditional method of appearing in person and casting a ballot on the day
of the election. These methods are as follows:
1. Absentee by Mail
2. Absentee One-Stop
In the office of the county board of elections, or
In another location within the county designated as an Absentee One-Stop voting site.
The deadline for persons to register in order to be eligible to vote in the November
General election is 5:00 p.m. on the twenty-fifth day before the election, if submitted
in person. If registering by mail, it must be postmarked at least 25 days before the
election (N.C. Gen. Stat. §163-82.6 (c1, 2)). A prospective voter must be registered
to vote in the county in which he or she is attempting to vote. For example, if a voter
is registered and resides in County A, the voter may not vote at a site in County B.
Absentee One-Stop (No-Excuse)
In the county board of elections office
Absentee One-Stop voting has been available in county board of elections offices for years and permits qualified voters to
vote absentee in person at the county board of elections. Since the November 2000 General Election, voting by Absentee
One-Stop no longer required an excuse.
Absentee one-stop voting begins the third Thursday before an election and continues until 1:00 p.m. on the last Saturday
before that election, with a county option of continuing until 5:00 p.m. (N.C. Gen. Stat. §163-227.2(b)).
Additional Absentee One-Stop Voting Sites
North Carolina voters are able to vote by Absentee One-Stop, with no excuse, at all county boards of elections offices,
during regular office hours, for the 17 days prior to elections voting period. For the November 2002 General Election,
some county boards of elections are offering one-stop absentee voting at other locations within the counties.
The absentee voting law was amended to provide for “one or more sites in that county for absentee ballots to be applied for
and cast,” N.C. Gen. Stat. §163-227.2(g).
Please refer to www.sboe.state.nc.us, under “County Offices” for a listing of the physical locations and telephone numbers
of county boards of elections offices in North Carolina and a listing of the additional Absentee One-Stop Voting sites
throughout the State.
Each county board of elections is responsible for the operation of each of its Absentee One-Stop Voting sites and are
required to submit a Plan for Implementation to the State Board of Elections for approval. Counties must ensure that each
additional site has:
Location in a public building
Adequate training for staff
Access to registration records
A method for verifying voter registration
Ensure against duplicate voting by a voter
Adequate ballot supply and styles
Ballots with identifiers for retrievability
Accurate set up of the voting enclosure
Observance of the buffer zone boundary for electioneering
Provisions for political party observers in place
A plan and affidavits for curbside voting
Provisions for voter assistance
Adequate supply of challenge forms
Implementation of a security plan
Political parties may designate two observers to be present at each one-stop site. Written challenges to a voter’s
registration may be entered against a voter at a one-stop site by the election official or by another registered voter
who resides in the same precinct as the voter being challenged (N.C. Gen. Stat. §163-227.2(g)). A registered voter of
the same precinct as the absentee voter may also enter a written challenge to an absentee ballot between the hours of
noon and 5:00 p.m. on Election Day (N.C. Gen. Stat. §163-89).
Plans for the security of the one-stop sites, the ballots, the voting equipment and registration records have been
developed by each county board of elections providing additional one-stop sites and approved by the State Board of
Elections. These procedures are necessary so that if a challenge to an absentee ballot is sustained or if an irregularity
is proven the integrity of the election is preserved.
Voting “No Excuse” Absentee One-Stop
When appearing at the site to vote, the voter must state his or her name, residence address and complete the application
to vote absentee. The vote is then cast on a Direct Record Electronic (DRE) system, a type of state of the art voting
equipment that directly records the vote onto a computer chip. In other cases, the voted ballot(s) are returned to the
election official or placed in the voting equipment, as determined by the county board of elections plan that has been
approved by the State Board of Elections.
Voting Equipment
Voting equipment will vary from county to county for the Absentee One-Stop sites. County boards of elections should be
contacted for more information.
State Board of Elections Oversight
Staff of the State Board of Elections monitors the additional Absentee One-Stop Voting sites across the State to ensure
that required procedures are followed.