Did you vote in North Carolina? Here’s how to make sure your ballot has been counted
More than 5.6 million people in North Carolina voted in the 2024 general election.
While county boards of elections continue the canvass process and have yet to certify the election results, voters may be wondering if their vote has been accepted and counted.
Regardless of how you voted — in person, early, on Election Day or by mail — here’s how to make sure your vote counted.
Check the NC State Board of Elections’ Voter Search
The state’s Voter Search (vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup) is not just used to check polling sites, sample ballots and voter registration.
It can also be used to see a person’s voting history.
If you voted in the November 2024 general election, the “Your Voter History” section may not show that you have cast a ballot right away. This section is updated after county boards of elections have assigned voter history to all voters’ records and may take several weeks after the election, according to the N.C. State Board of Elections.
Voter history will not show how a voter marked a ballot (i.e. for which candidates the person voted). It just shows that a person has voted in an election.
(In a primary election, however, the voter history section will show which political party’s primary a person voted in.)
How to check whether your vote was accepted during early voting
If you voted during the early voting period, you can check whether your vote was accepted using the online Voter Search.
Enter your name, press “Search,” and select the correct voter. Then, scroll to the bottom of the page.
In the “Your Ballot: By Mail or Early Voting” section:
- Voting Method should be “early voting”
- Ballot Status should be “valid return”
- Vote Status should be “accepted”
How to check whether your absentee vote was accepted
The online Voter Search shows whether votes cast by mail (or electronically, if eligible) were accepted.
Enter your name, press “Search,” and select the correct voter. Then, scroll to the bottom of the page.
In the “Your Ballot: By Mail or Early Voting” section:
- Voting Method should be “absentee by mail”
- Ballot Status should be “valid return”
- Vote Status should be “accepted”
Voters may also track their absentee ballot using the BallotTrax system available at northcarolina.ballottrax.net/voter.
How to check whether your in-person Election Day vote counted
Ballots cast in person on Election Day are inserted into a tabulator and recorded on a memory device in the machine.
If you voted in person on Election Day, your ballot status will appear in the “Your Voter History” section of the online Voter Search when your county board of election finishes assigning voter history to your record.
When that happens, the “Voted Method” will show up as “In-person Election Day.”
How to check whether your provisional ballot counted
If you cast a provisional ballot, use the Provisional Search tool online at vt.ncsbe.gov/RegProvPIN to check the status of your ballot 10 days after the election.
Voters need to fill out all sections of the Provisional Search, including their county, election, birthday and the PIN given to them at the voting site when they cast the provisional ballot.
This story was originally published November 11, 2024 at 2:42 PM with the headline "Did you vote in North Carolina? Here’s how to make sure your ballot has been counted."
