Following two weeks of delays caused by a lawsuit filed by former third-party presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., voting in North Carolina in the 2024 election got started on Friday.

That is when election offices began sending absentee ballots to military families across the country and the world, and to civilians around the world. Absentee balloting for all North Carolina voters was supposed to start Sept. 6; that deadline was delayed to remove Kennedy’s name and reprint ballots.

Following the Sept. 20 start with military families and overseas civilians, North Carolina voting accelerates on Tuesday, Sept. 24, when absentee ballots will be put in the mail for North Carolinians who aren’t military-connected or overseas. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.

In 2020, more than 995,000 voters in the presidential election cast absentee ballots. Here’s what you need to know about how military and civilian voters can use absentee balloting to participate in the 2024 elections. 

Note there are two systems for absentee voting:

  • One is a federal program for military families and some civilians who aren’t connected to the military. Specifically: military families who are away from home (whether in the United States or overseas) may use it. Also, non-military civilians who are outside the United States may use it.
  • The other absentee ballot system is a North Carolina program for residents who are away from home, and for those who prefer to receive their ballots at home and then return them to their local Board of Elections office.

The Federal Voting Assistance Program

The Federal Voting Assistance Program provides a way for North Carolinians who will be outside the United States during the 2024 election to vote via absentee ballot, and for military families to vote back home while stationed elsewhere in the country, or stationed overseas.

These voters may cast their ballots via mail, via email, online, and via fax, under the terms of the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act.

Who may use the Federal Voting Assistance Program?

The Federal Voting Assistance Program and the North Carolina State Board of Elections say the following U.S. citizens voters may use this system to participate in North Carolina elections while they are away:

  • Military personnel and their family members who are stationed away from their home states. This includes those in the United States and those overseas. Fort Liberty families may do this to vote in their home states. As of Monday, the military listed 46,989 uniformed personnel at Fort Liberty. This figure does not include their spouses, children and other dependents living in the metro area.
  • North Carolinians living outside the country — temporarily with plans to return to North Carolina, or permanently with no plans to return to the United States.
  • People born outside of the United States with a parent who is a U.S. citizen and who last lived in North Carolina.

How does the federal program work?

Those eligible may use an online form to register to vote and request a ballot.

Click here to use the online form.

Voter registration and ballot requests may also be done with a paper form. A PDF copy of the form is at this link. Voters may then mail it to their county Board of Elections office. Visit the Cumberland County Board of Elections website here.

The form (whether online or on paper) is called the Federal Post Card Application. It’s generally abbreviated FPCA on election information websites.

What are the deadlines?

Where can you find more information?

For more information about military and overseas absentee voting, please see:

How to vote by mail in NC

Registered voters who wish to vote from home, or who will be away from home during the election, may vote by mail with an absentee ballot.

To request an absentee ballot, voters may:

Voters must provide their date of birth when requesting their ballots. They must also provide a driver license number or state identification card number, or the last four digits of their social security number.

Click here for more information on how to request an absentee ballot.

Filling out and returning the ballot

When you fill out your absentee ballot, you must do this in the presence of either a notary republic, or in the presence of two witnesses. They are there to verify that it was you who filled out your ballot, but not how you voted. They are to sign the envelope used to return the ballot.

You’ll also need to make a photocopy of a photo ID to send back with your ballot. If you can’t make a photocopy, you can fill out a form explaining you cannot. If you fill out that form correctly, your ballot will still be counted.

Mail your ballot or deliver to the local Board of Elections (this requires $1.77 in postage, or three Forever Stamps). Only you, a near relative or your legal guardian are allowed to mail or hand-deliver your ballot.

What are the deadlines?

Senior reporter Paul Woolverton can be reached at 910-261-4710 and pwoolverton@cityviewnc.com.This story was made possible by donations from readers like you to the CityView News Fund, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization committed to an informed democracy in Fayetteville and Cumberland County.

Paul Woolverton is CityView's senior reporter, covering courts, local politics, and Cumberland County affairs. He joined CityView from The Fayetteville Observer, where he worked for more than 30 years.