Get ready to “Early Vote October 15th”

By Cash Michaels

Friday, Oct. 9th - tomorrow - is the last day that you can formally register to vote in the state of North Carolina in to be eligible to vote during the November 3rd General Election.

You can register to vote if you are a U.S. citizen, a current resident of North Carolina for at least 25 days before the November 3rd General Election, and either are, or will be 18 years of age by November 3rd.

You can, if you have your driver’s license through the NC Dept. of Motor Vehicles (DMV), submit a voter registration application online. Just go to https://www.ncdot.gov/dmv/offices-services/online/Pages/voter-registration-application.aspx.

The NAACP urges you to “…double check your voter registration, be sure that your voter information is accurate, and make a plan to safely cast your vote! If you have recently moved, changed your name, or turned 18, this is crucial – it only takes two minutes and your vote can change the course of history.

But wait a minute – you are simply not able to register to vote either today or tomorrow, yet you want to join the rest of your community in casting your all-important ballot for November 3rd.

So, what can you do?

From Oct. 15th to Oct. 31st, you can do One Stop Early Voting - Same Day Registration is scheduled at various designated locations across the county, starting at 8am and ending at 7:30pm Monday through Friday, with shorter hours on Saturdays and Sundays in the interim (check your local county early voting site schedule).

To same day register to early vote, you do need to bring a proof of residency document, like a bill, driver’s license, or government notice that has your name and address on it. That is ONLY if you are NOT registered to vote already. If you are, you just walk in, identify yourself, and then vote.

YOU DO NOT NEED A VOTER PHOTO IDENTIFICATION TO EITHER CAST AN EARLY BALLOT, OR VOTE ON ELECTION DAY, NOV. 3RD.

You can still mail in your absentee ballot; you have until October 27, 2020 to do so. Before you return your mail-in-ballot, you have properly signed it where required, and it is also properly signed by one witness (could be spouse or relative) with their address.

Several recent absentee mail-in ballots have not been counted because of those mistakes. There are currently two legal cases surrounding issues involving spoiled mail-in ballots.