Election Day in Charlotte: 6:30 to 7:30, Photo ID Required, and a Senate Race the Country Is Watching
North Carolina's hours are 6:30 to 7:30, the photo ID rule is real, absentee ballots must be received — not mailed — by 7:30 p.m., and one of America's biggest Senate races tops the ballot.
North Carolina runs Election Day the specific way, and the specifics matter on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polls are open statewide from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. — hours no other state in the region uses — and anyone in line at 7:30 p.m. will vote. On Election Day itself, unlike during early voting, Charlotte voters must vote at their assigned precinct; the county's voter lookup will name it.
Bring a photo ID. North Carolina voters are asked to show one when they check in — a state driver's license or DMV-issued non-operator ID, a U.S. passport, an approved student or government employee ID, or the free voter photo ID available from the county board of elections all qualify. A voter without an acceptable ID is not turned away: state law provides an ID Exception Form, and the ballot is cast and counted under its rules.
Early voting ended Saturday, Oct. 31, at 3 p.m., so Tuesday is the final door. The same is true for absentee ballots still in the house: in North Carolina they must be received by the county board of elections by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day — a postmark alone no longer carries a ballot. Hand-deliver a completed absentee ballot to the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections rather than mailing it now, and include the photocopy of photo ID or the exception form the ballot packet requires.
The ballot is headlined by one of the country's most watched contests: an open U.S. Senate seat, with former governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat, facing Republican Michael Whatley, the former Republican National Committee chair. The seat opened when Sen. Thom Tillis chose not to seek re-election, and control of a divided U.S. Senate runs through races like this one. All 14 of North Carolina's U.S. House seats, the entire General Assembly, and state and appellate judgeships are also on the ballot.
Three proposed amendments to the state constitution wait below the races — concerning photo identification for all voters, the maximum state income tax rate, and limits on local property taxes. Mecklenburg County's Board of Elections publishes sample ballots showing every race and question exactly as it will appear. An hour with the sample ballot on Monday is worth ten minutes of squinting on Tuesday. Polls open 6:30. Bring the ID.
