State Board of Elections Offers Registration Advice

With voter registration drives in full force across the state, as well as two lawsuits to remove illegal voters from the state rolls, the State Board of Elections (SBOE) is offering advice to voters in what is expected to be a record-breaking turnout year.

“Now is the time to use the State Board’s Voter Search tool to check your registration and make sure it’s up to date,” said Karen Brinson Bell, State Board executive director. “If you’re eligible to vote but not registered, now is the time to submit an application and make your voice heard in 2024. It’s quick and easy.”

To be eligible to register to vote, the SBOE you must be a U.S. citizen; live in the county where you are registering for at least 30 days prior to Election Day; be at least 18 years old by the date of the general election; and not be serving a felony sentence, including any probation, post-release supervision, or parole.

The deadline to register to vote on Election Day in the 2024 general election is 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11. If you miss that deadline, you may still register and vote or make changes to your registration during the early voting period at any early voting site in your home county. The early voting period begins Oct. 17 and ends at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2.

North Carolinians can also register through the Dept. of Motor Vehicles License Section. Anyone with a driver’s license or learner’s permit who is eligible to vote can fill out an application form on the DMV website. Paper applications in English and Spanish may be printed out or obtained through a DMV office, and must be returned by the registration deadline to the county Board of Elections.

Voters who are already registered do not need to re-register, the SBOE said. Some political action committees send out mailers implying that a voter’s registration may have expired or been cancelled. The mailers are designed to get voters to re-register for a specific party.

“You also do not have to turn in a new voter registration form every two years just to stay registered,” Bell said in a press release. “The only time you need to re-register to vote is if you are no longer registered. If you are already registered to vote, and someone tries to convince you that you must re-register, that is not true. If you have questions about your registration, you should contact your county board of elections.”
The SBOE also cautioned that third party groups sometimes have inaccurate mailing lists that can cause ineligible people to register. It is a crime for an ineligible person to cast a vote in a North Carolina election.
“Ineligible individuals should not attempt to register,” Bell said. “State election officials do not send mass mailings to encourage voter registration. Voters with questions or concerns should contact the organization that sent the mailing.”
Voters can update their registration information online, but name changes must be submitted in person.
Any individual who is on the registration rolls but is not eligible to vote, or desires to no longer be registered, may cancel their registration by filling out the Cancellation of Voter Registrationform and returning it to the county board of elections where they are registered.
Near relatives of a deceased voter, or the personal representative of a deceased voter’s estate, may cancel a deceased voter’s registration by filling out the Notification of Deceased Voter form (PDF)form, and submitting it to the deceased voter’s county board of elections.