Eight reminders about voter registration in North Carolina

Presidential election years, like 2024, are busy times for voter registrations in North Carolina. Many voter registration drives are being conducted across the state this year.

“Now is the time to use the State Board’s Voter Search tool to check your registration and make sure it’s up to date,” said Karen Brinson Bell, NCSBE executive director. “If you’re eligible to vote but not registered, now is the time to submit an application and make your voice heard in 2024. It’s quick and easy.”

The State Board of Elections offers the following eight tips and reminders to voters and prospective voters during this time:

• Check your registration. The State Board encourages all voters to check their voter registration using the Voter Search tool. This will ensure that voters know if they need to make any updates to their registration in time to vote. For details about information available through the Voter Search tool, go to Your Voter Record. [Watch video: Check Your Voter Registration.]
• Requirements for registering to vote. To be eligible to register to vote, you must be a U.S. citizen; live in the county where you are registering for at least 30 days prior to Election Day; be at least 18 years old by the date of the general election; and not be serving a felony sentence, including any probation, post-release supervision, or parole.
• Register to vote. Existing NCDMV customers who are eligible to vote can submit a voter registration application online through the NCDMV website. Eligible individuals also can fill out and print a paper application in English or Spanish and mail it or return it in person to their county board of elections. See How to Register.
• Registration deadlines. The deadline to register to vote on Election Day in the 2024 general election is 5 p.m. Friday, October 11. If you miss that deadline, you may still register and vote or make changes to your registration during the early voting period at any early voting site in your county. The early voting period begins Thursday, October 17 and ends at 3 p.m. Saturday, November 2. For sites and schedules by county, see Early Voting Site Search.
• You do not need to re-register if you are currently registered to vote. If you are already registered to vote, you do not need to re-register for any reason. You also do not have to turn in a new voter registration form every two years just to stay registered. The only time you need to re-register to vote is if you are no longer registered. If you are already registered to vote, and someone tries to convince you that you must re-register, that is not true. If you have questions about your registration, you should contact your county board of elections.
• Third party registration mailings. Nonprofit groups are starting to send hundreds of thousands of mailers to NC residents encouraging them to register or update their registration. The data they use to create their mailing lists is not always precise, so it’s possible that voters who are already registered or ineligible individuals may receive these mailings. Voters who are already registered do not need to re-register. Ineligible individuals should not attempt to register. N.C. election officials do not send mass mailings to encourage voter registration. Voters with questions or concerns should contact the organization that sent the mailing.
• Updating a registration. Existing NCDMV customers can use the online registration service to update their address or party affiliation. If your name has changed, though, you’ll need to update that with a paper voter registration form. Any voter can fill out a paper voter registration application and return it to their county board of elections.
• Canceling a registration. Any individual who is on the registration rolls but is not eligible to vote, or desires to no longer be registered, may cancel their registration by filling out the Cancellation of Voter Registration form and returning it to the county board of elections where they are registered. Near relatives of a deceased voter, or the personal representative of a deceased voter’s estate, may cancel a deceased voter’s registration by filling out the Notification of Deceased Voter form (PDF) form, and submitting it to the deceased voter’s county board of elections.