Commentary: You can still affect who wins a close election in NC

I hope this column will rescue the ballot of someone you know from being discarded.

You can help.

The 2026 election has not ended.  There are 61 counties in North Carolina where voters with ballots in limbo could decide who wins or loses. The close contests include three Congressional races, several contests for seats in the General Assembly, and more than a dozen local elections, from school board to district attorney.

NC elections board moves to make it easier to toss voters’ ballots

More than 35,000 provisional ballots are still being evaluated by local election officials to see if the person qualifies to vote. Maybe their name didn’t show up on the registration rolls for one reason or another, so they had to cast a provisional ballot. Or they didn’t have an approved photo ID to show the poll worker.

These voters have until noon Tuesday to contact their county board of elections and provide additional information or confirm the official’s research that they are qualified to vote.

Another 700 or so voters who submitted a ballot by mail also need to take immediate action before Tuesday at noon. Some glitch – perhaps an unsealed envelop or missing identity information – is holding up the final decision on whether their ballot will count.

Some of these voters have been contacted by strangers affiliated with a partisan or nonpartisan group. But they may not trust that messenger or may not think it’s worth the time to fix something that shouldn’t be a ballot-counting barrier anyway.

That’s where you come in. Search this list of affected voters in your county. If you know someone on it, please be a trusted messenger and urge them to take action.  It may not be clear what needs fixing – the key is they should immediately contact their county board of elections and learn what is needed. Right away.

One more group of about 250 voters are also on the searchable list.  They used “same-day registration” to register and vote during early voting.  But a verification mailing to them bounced back, so the board of elections may disqualify their ballot – unless they take action by Thursday at noon.

Please go to the names on the list in your county and look for people you know.  There are still undecided contests from Congressional seats to the local courthouse and school board.  Let your friend know that her or his ballot can still count — and could decide who wins and who loses an important election.