Fact check: Does North Carolina have the longest voting period in the nation?
A Democratic congresswoman from North Carolina says the battleground state offers voters more time to participate in elections than in any other state.
Posted — UpdatedA Democratic congresswoman from North Carolina says the battleground state offers voters more time to participate in elections than in any other state.
Ross concluded a recent press conference by addressing the media: “Please remind your readers and your viewers that you can start voting in the primary already.”
She added: “North Carolina has the longest voting period in the country, because we’re a military state, and we have the most ways of voting.”
We wondered about the timeframe for civilian voters, though. Does North Carolina offer the longest voting period in the nation?
The answer: for one major type of election — but not for the other.
General vs. primary absentee voting periods
To judge voting periods, Ross measured the length of time between two dates: when absentee ballots are mailed to voters, and the final day a ballot can be postmarked. PolitiFact North Carolina also considered the final day an absentee ballot could be accepted.
In other words, for general elections, North Carolina has the longest voting period in the nation that’s open to every registered voter.
Compared to other states, North Carolina’s 45-day primary voting period is long — but it’s not the longest. Here are some states that caught our attention:
- Alabama allows absentee voting to start 55 days ahead of its elections. Eligible absentee voters started receiving ballots on Jan. 10 for the March 5 primary, Jeff Elrod, the state’s director of elections, told PolitiFact.
- Wisconsin separates its presidential primary from others. While absentee ballots will be mailed to civilians less than a month before the April 2 presidential preference election, they’ll go out 47 days ahead of the Aug. 13 primary for congressional and legislative races.
- South Dakota’s absentee voting window is 46 days long. The state will begin mailing ballots on April 19 for its June 4 primaries, according to Rachel Soulek, director of elections for the Secretary of State’s office.
- Elections officials in Michigan and Pennsylvania told us that it’s possible for absentee ballots to be mailed 50 days before a primary, but that delivery dates vary by county and ballots don’t always go out that early.
- Like North Carolina, Minnesota and Virginia began mailing out ballots on Jan. 19 ahead of their March 5 primaries. However, they allow ballots to arrive later than North Carolina does. In North Carolina, absentee and mail-in ballots must arrive before polls close at 7:30p.m. on Election Day. In Minnesota, they’re due by 8 p.m. on Election Day. In Virginia, they must be postmarked by Election Day but can be received as late as noon on the Friday following the election.
Ways to vote
But offering the most voting options doesn’t necessarily mean that a state offers the easiest ballot access, said Andrew Garber, counsel for the Brennan Center’s Voting Rights and Elections Program.
“It’s difficult to compare the number of ‘ways’ different states have to vote because the voting rules across states differ in many nuanced ways,” Garber said in an email. “A state that has a lot of ‘ways’ to vote may still not be that accessible for its voters.”
For example, a state may have in-person early voting but limit voting hours or offer only a few voting sites. North Carolina’s same-day voting registration rules offer another example, Garber said. The state offers same-day registration — where eligible residents can register to vote at an early voting site and vote the same day — but new laws enacted last year instruct election officials to scrap a voter’s ballot if the county’s address verification form is returned to the elections board as undeliverable.
The law, which is being challenged in court, disqualifies ballots from registered voters “even after they [present] photo ID and proof of residence” at the polls, Garber said.
Our ruling
Ross said “North Carolina has the longest voting period in the country … and we have the most ways of voting.”
For general elections, that’s accurate. North Carolina is the only state that requires absentee ballots to be sent 60 days before Election Day. But this year, the state’s voting window for this year’s primary elections does not stand out.
Ross’s claim about having the “most ways” of voting could also give North Carolinians the impression the state offers the easiest ballot access. That’s not necessarily the case as other states have similar offerings.
Ross’s claim is partially accurate. We rate it Half True.
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