SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — The North Carolina State Board of Elections is reminding voters this Election Day, though the precincts close at 7:30 p.m., the results take time to tally — and have to be canvassed, by law, before counts become official.
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There are more than 2,600 polling places statewide reporting results and times that results are completed will vary by county. Even then, the board does not consider results official — nor does it make projections — until it holds its Nov. 15 canvass at 11 a.m. to certify all votes.
“Projections are made by media and/or candidates using unofficial results, typically based on exit polls or the vote difference and the number of votes yet to be counted in a contest,” according to a press release from the NCSBE Tuesday.
Polls will close at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 5 — except for in two precincts. The state board voted to extend closing at one polling place in both Wilson and Burke counties by 30 minutes on Tuesday. The decision was made due to delayed starting times, as polls originally were supposed to open at 6:30 a.m.
In Elm City, located in Wilson County, a temporary printer connection issue failed with poll workers not able to print “authorization to vote” forms delaying votes.
Further west in Morganton, located in Burke County, the delay was due to a laptop not rebooting to access the official pollbook to check in voters.
Voters can expect unofficial election night results to post between 8 p.m and 1 a.m. at the state’s Election Results Dashboard, frequently updated throughout the evening. This tally will include Election Day in-person votes, all early-voting ballots, and absentee ballots received before Election Day.
However, a new law went into effect this year that allows in-person early-voting results to be reported later than normal. Beforehand, tallies could begin on in-person, early votes ahead of polls closing; now all counts must wait until 7:30 p.m. before the process can begin and numbers are reported.
Absentee ballots are allowed to be tabulated ahead of time; however, absentee ballots received on Election Day will not be added to the count on Nov. 5 but rather during the 10-day canvass period.
The Election Night total will not include military and overseas-citizen absentee ballots either, allowed to arrive to the county board of elections offices from Election Day through Nov. 14 at 5 p.m.
Also this year, certain absentee ballots from 25 counties affected by Hurricane Helene will be canvassed and counted after election night.
Provisional ballots — those cast by voters who didn’t have an ID, for example — also have to be investigated during the canvassing period to ensure eligibility before being counted.
“Because this is the first general election under the photo ID law, and the photo ID law adds this new category of provisional ballots, the State Board anticipates the number of provisional ballots to be greater than in years past,” NCSBE detailed in its release. “County boards of elections will add any eligible ballots from these categories to the results during the post-election canvass period. Exactly when additional ballots will be added to the unofficial results will vary by county, depending on when they schedule their public meetings to consider these ballots.”
So far this election season, roughly 4.2 million North Carolinians have cast ballots of the more than 7 million registered. The state board pressed that canvassing ensures accurate counting and takes time.
“Bipartisan teams are there at every step to make sure the process is fair and secure,” it noted in the release.
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