Mecklenburg County Board of Elections pushes through problem to report early voting numbers

MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — While voting totals began pouring in from rural counties across North Carolina, one of the biggest counties in the state didn’t report early voting numbers until three hours after polls closed.

The Mecklenburg County Board of Elections submitted its Election Day totals not too long after 7:30 p.m., but the number on the North Carolina Board of Elections website didn’t budge for hours.

Channel 9′s Almiya White learned of the difficulties, and an elections official in Charlotte said it was because they were having issues uploading the early voting numbers to the state’s website. An official in Mecklenburg County said the issue was with the state’s website.

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It took a little longer than expected, but Mecklenburg County’s early voting numbers began showing up on the state website by about 10:42 p.m.

Channel 9 is reaching out to the state board of elections to learn more about the issue with updating the numbers. We’ll add more details in this article when they’re available.

Earlier:

Workers at the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections are preparing to start counting votes as soon as polls close.

This includes early votes cast before election day.

Board of Elections Director Michael Dickerson told Channel 9′s Erika Jackson that his team will release absentee vote-by-mail numbers almost immediately.

Then the board will release early voting results, which will be around 430,000 in Mecklenburg County.

The last votes to be reported will be those cast on Tuesday.

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Representatives from every polling place in Mecklenburg County will have to drop off the results.

Dickerson said the large number of early voters and vote-by-mail ballots will help speed up the process of getting full results.

“The bulk of them have already come out. That’s the great thing about this. If we can get all of those in the system, you’re going to see a good big number come right off the bat. The hard part will be: How long does it take them to close? If there’s a line at closing, they can still vote. How long will it take them here?” Dickerson elaborated.

You will be able to vote as long as you are in line when the polls close at 7:30 p.m. in North Carolina and 7 p.m. in South Carolina.

VIDEO: What to know for Election Day in North Carolina