What to know about voting by mail as absentee ballot applications arrive

CHARLOTTE — Elections officials are stressing that voting by mail is safe in North Carolina and you do not need a reason to do it. Anyone can request a ballot.

The Mecklenburg County Board of Elections has been flooded with calls lately because people are getting unsolicited applications in the mail. But the state Board of Elections is not sending them.

"Since it says send it to the Mecklenburg Board of Elections, the first thing they think is why are you sending this out," Mecklenburg Elections Director Michael Dickerson said. "Read the fine print. It is not us sending it out."

Dickerson said there is no scenario where the Board of Elections would send an unsolicited absentee ballot request form to a voter.

[Checks, balances in place if deceased person gets absentee voter registration materials in mail]

Thousands of North Carolina voters are receiving absentee ballot applications in the mail from the Center for Voter Information, a non-partisan and nonprofit organization. Dickerson said he and his wife received absentee ballot applications from the group.

There are a couple of things you should verify before filling them out. Voters should make sure the address on the return envelope is correct. The Mecklenburg County Board of Elections address is P.O. Box 31788 Charlotte, NC 28231-1788.

People should also make sure the form is blank. If it is already filled out, it won't be accepted.

“If you get one pre-filled out that will be rejected by my office, I cannot accept those,” Dickerson said. “Then we would send you something new.”

If you don’t trust the form that has been mailed to you, you can go on the NCSBE website to download one for yourself. Click here for the application and more information on absentee voting from NCSBE.

Dickerson also wants people to know you don’t have to put your absentee ballot application in the mail. You can hand-deliver your forms and your near relatives’ forms to a BOE office. The same situation applies to your absentee ballot when you receive it.

“Do not go around and collect -- just do your own. Just do yours or your near relatives,” Dickerson said. “You can walk that in. We date-stamp it when you get to the office, and we lock it in our vault.”

For two decades, people who wanted to vote by mail in North Carolina have been able to do so. Dickerson is stressing it is safe, secure, tried and true.

"We will receive it and do everything in our power to make sure it is good that your process is clear. Your process is safe and secure with us here at the Board of Elections," he said.

So far in Mecklenburg County, more than 27,000 people have requested mail ballots. Statewide more than 174,000 requests have been made which is seven times higher than this point in 2016.

For more information on the absentee voting process, click here.

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