Questions about voting? Ask now!

In preparation for what promises to be a large voter turnout during North Carolina’s Early Voting period (Oct. 16 through Nov. 1) and on the Nov. 4 General Election Day, Xpress wants to help answer any questions you have about the voting process. For example, we’ve already been asked whether voters are allowed to wear campaign T-shirts or buttons in the polling places. (The answer: Yes, as long as you don’t practice “electioneering” — that is, telling someone how to vote or handing out material — inside the polling place or within 50 feet of the outside door. Poll workers, mind you, must always refrain from wearing candidate-promoting garb or buttons.)

What would you like to know? Ask us! We’ll dig up the answers and compile them for our 2008 Voter Guide, which arrives on Wednesday, Oct. 22.

Nelda Holder, associate editor

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16 thoughts on “Questions about voting? Ask now!

  1. Jim Bob Thornton

    Hey ACORN’s got me registered 6 times. I’m going to vote early and often. :)

  2. Liz Donnelly

    1) Are there early voting times available on weekends?

    2) What happens to early voting ballots? Where are they kept, is it secure, and how can we be sure they are actually included in election day totals and not just “misplaced”?

    3) What happens on election day if people are still in line HOURS after the polls official closing time? Do they get to vote? Are those votes counted.

    Thanks!

  3. Of course the voting officials would let you vote only once, again proving that registration problems do not equal voting problems.

    Seems simple, yet there are so many who are confused.

  4. Carrie

    I saw some information yesterday that advised voters to fill in each circle on the ballot for each candidate as opposed to just filling in the “straight party ticket” circle. Supposedly, this will ensure that each vote for each office is properly counted by the machine.

  5. Dionysis

    Hey, ACORN had some temporary employees fill out registration forms with fake names.

    Hey, ACORN itself reported this to the Federal Election Commission.

    Hey, this happens in virtually every election when people get paid by the number of names they list.

    Hey, regardless of how many fake or duplicative names are turned in, only one vote is permitted for each real person that shows up.

    Hey, the whole ACORN diversion is just that; an attempt at diversion.

  6. nuvue

    Hey, wish I could vote
    Pay fed taxes
    Born in NC
    Live in Virgin Islands….can’t vote for pres.

  7. DonM

    nuvue,
    Are you not a resident of one of the 50 states? What did you do, give up your NC residency for some other purpose you found to be more advantageous?

    Like residents of Guam and Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islanders CAN vote in the national election if they are a resident of one of the 50 states.

    ???

  8. David Lynch

    If for any reason you have a problem voting – if the poll worker claims you are not on the registration rolls and you know you should be, etc., call 1-866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683).

    DO NOT cast a provisional ballot – you only have a 1/3 chance that a provisional ballot will be counted. Demand that your registration be adjudicated on the spot! Bring plenty of ID with you just in case.

    Before your vote, you can visit or visit http://www.866ourvote.org/ to learn more about your voting rights.

  9. nuvue

    Yes Don, I left lovely Asheville in the early 80’s….needed work and it was not there then.
    I became a resident of the VI and we cannot vote, even though I still have a house in A-villeand pay fed taxes) I guess I could do a absentee ballot, but don’t know the ramifications. They have gotten stricter on the registering process. ( I tried in the last election, and would have to live in NC for 4 months or something. I think they are stricter for residency cuz of college entrance also.)
    Washington DC residences cannot vote for pres either, not PR or Guam.

  10. DonM

    nuvue,
    If you own property in NC you can be an NC resident and therefore vote in the national election. If that would require you to make changes to your V.I. residency and you don’t want to do that (work permits, whatever) then, unfortunately, you and any resident of an unincorporated organized territory (like Guam, V.I. and P.R.) cannot vote in the national election.

    You are incorrect about residents of D.C., though. They’ve been voting in the presidential elections for over 40 years and the District has 3 electoral votes. I was born there and know a little bit about that.

  11. nuvue

    oops, thought DC was a territory.
    Will I have to pay State taxes if voting in NC? (Don’t earn anything there except rent)
    I really should rethink my citizenship, I want my daughter to go to college in NC someplace ( hopefully as good as the fine education I got at WCU :)

  12. Linda

    I want to vote, but unfortunately don’t really have residence in any state right now. I travel a lot, and last voted in New Hampshire, but no longer have that address. I have a New York Driver’s License, but am going to be in Florida for the election day. How can I vote?

  13. Nelda Holder

    Linda — Xpress solicited an answer for you from the State Board of Elections. This is what they had to say:

    She cannot register or vote in North Carolina, because it does not appear she is a North Carolina resident. Just being in a state does not make you a resident of that state. You must have an intent to make that state your domicile. She needed to register to vote in the state which she considered herself a resident of. Voter registration deadlines have passed in most states.
    Don Wright
    General Counsel
    NC State Board of Elections

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