North Carolina election officials said Tuesday that absentee ballots received up to 9 days after the general election will be counted if they are postmarked by Nov. 3.
The agreement, which comes a day after a judge extended the Wisconsin absentee ballot counting timeline by 6 days, could settle a lawsuit with Democrats pending judicial approval, according to Reuters.
Current state law requires absentee ballots to be submitted by 5 pm on Nov. 6. (RELATED: Wisconsin To Count Absentee Ballots Up To Six Days After Election, Judge Rules)
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— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) September 22, 2020
The agreement, per WRAL, aims to settle a lawsuit by N.C. Alliance for Retired Americans, which argued that “North Carolina’s vote by mail requirements are burdensome and will force older voters to choose between protecting their health or casting a ballot they know will be counted.”
Nearly 950,00 absentee ballot requests have been submitted, increasing by 20,000 in 24 hours according to WRAL. Around 17 percent, 156,979, of requested ballots in the battleground state have been returned, 55 percent of which came from Democratic voters.
Election polling in North Carolina shows President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in a tight race, with Biden leading by just over a point. A New York Times/Siena College Research Institute poll, conducted September 11-16, found exactly 1 percent difference with Biden leading Trump 45%-44%.
