Tips for returning your mail-in ballot
Early voting in Macon County has reached the five-figure mark going into the last week before Election Day.
As of Tuesday morning, there have been 11,873 votes counted in Macon County. While no single day has eclipsed the 1,608 votes on the first day, Thursday, Oct. 17, this accounts for more than 40% of Macon County’s over 29,400 registered voters.
Going into the last several days of Early Voting, it appears that Macon County will break the 2020 Election record of just over 13,000 votes and has already broken the 2016 count of over 11,100 votes.
The total so far comes out to roughly two votes per minute in Macon County when the polling locations are open.
Early voting continues Wednesday, Oct. 30 through Friday, Nov. 1, from 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m. and on Saturday, Nov. 2, from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. The early voting locations are the Carpenter Community Building at 1288 Georgia Rd., Franklin, and the Highlands Civic Center at 600 N. 4th St., Highlands.
Voters who miss early voting will go to their assigned polling precinct on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, to cast their ballot. Polls are open on Election Day at 6:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.
A voter must show an acceptable photo ID to vote or complete an ID exception form or vote provisionally and return to the county’s elections office with a photo ID the day before Canvass, which is Thursday, Nov. 14, to be counted.
Acceptable photo IDs include a driver’s license from any state, a passport, N.C. voter ID card, most college or university student ID cards, state or local government ID, military or veterans ID card with photo, a recognized tribal enrollment card or ID card with photo for a public assistance program.
A voter 65 years or older may use an expired form of acceptable ID if their ID was unexpired on their 65th birthday.
As the polls close after press time on Tuesday, The Franklin Press will have coverage of the election results on our website (thefranklinpress.com), our Facebook page, and in the Nov. 13 edition of the paper.
Casting your vote by mail
If you requested an absentee mail-in ballot, it must be returned to the Macon County Board of Elections office by the time the polls close at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Note that does not mean postmarked on Nov. 5; the ballot must be at the Board of Elections office by that time.
State law requires that your absentee mail-in ballot be witnessed or notarized. A local voter recently contacted the Press concerned that he had been told the notary public would watch him fill out his ballot.
According to the North Carolina Board of Elections, you must complete your ballot in the presence of a notary public or two witnesses. They will observe you vote but not how you mark your ballot. Your voting choices are private.
Who can witness?
Anyone who is 18 years of age or older can be a witness. According to the state Board of Elections, a candidate cannot serve as a witness, unless the candidate is your near relative or legal guardian or you are in a hospital, clinic, nursing home or adult care home and are requesting the candidate’s assistance due to disability.
Your ballot and signature may be notarized by one notary public rather than using two witnesses.
If you need assistance marking the ballot, a person may mark the ballot with your direction and the person helping you must also sign the envelope.
Seal and sign
Place your completed ballot in the return envelope that came with the ballot and seal the envelope. Do not put anything else in the envelope. Sign your name on the back of the envelope.
If you had two witnesses observe you vote, they must print and sign their names and provide their addresses on the back of the envelope.
Photo ID
As a photo identification is now required for voting, place a copy of an eligible ID in the clear sleeve on the back of your ballot envelope. If you do not have a photo ID, complete the Photo ID Exception form (provided in your ballot package) and place it in the clear sleeve.
Returning your ballot
The Board of Elections offers the following instructions for returning your marked ballot.
Place the completed and sealed ballot envelope inside the absentee return envelope. Place the envelope in the mail or hand-deliver it to an early voting site or the Macon County Board of Elections Office.
The local Board of Elections office is located on the first floor of the Macon County Courthouse and is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The early voting sites are the Robert Carpenter Community Building in Franklin and the Highlands Civic Center. They are open 8 a.m.-7:30 p.m. the remainder of this week and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Early voting ends Saturday, Nov. 2.
You may not return your ballot to a polling place on Election Day, Nov. 5.
According to state law, only your or your near relative or legal guardian may mail or hand-deliver the ballot return envelope. A near relative is your spouse, brother, sister, parent, child, stepchild, grandparent, grandchild, stepparent, mother-in-law, father-in-law, daughter-in-law or son-in-law. If you need assistance returning your ballot due to disability those restrictions do not apply; any person can return your ballot.
Mailing your ballot
Be sure to include the correct postage on your ballot return envelope. It cost $1.77 to return your ballot by mail. The N.C. Board of Elections suggests mailing your ballot a week before it is due. Consider hand delivering your ballot if you are concerned it will not arrive by Tuesday.
Track your ballot
People who requested an absentee ballot by mail can track it through the online portal BallotTrax (northcarolina.ballottrax.net).
For more information
Call the Macon County Board of Elections at 828-349-2034.