The following is a primer for reporters and editors about the 2026 general election in North Carolina.
Press Releases
The State Board of Elections will issue press releases about this election – before, during and after Election Day. You can find them at Press Releases. To be added to the email distribution list for press releases and meeting notices, send an email to ncsbe.comms@ncsbe.gov.
Guidance for Media Coverage at Voting Sites
- If you are a member of the media and wish to photograph or record video at an early voting site or Election Day polling place, please contact the county elections director or media contact in that county. They can help arrange a visit or contact the chief judge. Find contact information for county boards of elections.
- Media representatives who wish to enter the voting enclosure must get the approval of the chief judge at the precinct or early voting site. The chief judge may allow the media to photograph or record video inside the voting enclosure, with consent of the voter(s) being filmed or photographed under Limited access to the voting enclosure (N.C.G.S. § 163-166.3).
- It is a violation of law to photograph or videotape a marked ballot.
- The media may not interview voters within the voting enclosure but may interview them outside the designated buffer zone at a voting site.
- Any media coverage at voting sites is at the discretion of the local election officials, and any visit to a voting location must be brief and non-disruptive to the voting process.
Before the Election
For North Carolina election officials, planning for each election starts months before Election Day. Routine preparations include registering voters, identifying and reserving polling places and early voting sites, training poll workers, and preparing and testing voting equipment. This includes publicly testing every voting machine to be used in every county before every election. For more information, see Preparing for Accurate Elections.
Election Day
On November 3, about 2,625 polling places will be open statewide from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. On Election Day, voters should go to their assigned precinct to make sure they get the correct ballot. Voters can find their polling place through the State Board’s Voter Search tool.
Voters should bring their photo ID.
During every election, minor disruptions arise, such as power outages, tabulator issues or printer jams, or longer lines at some voting places. These are not indications of malicious activity, and processes are in place to respond to each scenario. For example, if a ballot tabulator malfunctions, trained officials can be brought in to repair it, or the machine can be replaced by a certified and tested backup. Voted ballots are kept securely in the meantime.
It is not unusual for the State Board to extend voting hours beyond 7:30 p.m. if a disruption at a polling place causes a stoppage in voting. The Board will issue a public notice if it meets on Election Day to consider voting hours extensions. The public will be able to listen and watch the meeting remotely. Under Hours for Voting (N.C.G.S. § 163-166.25), the State Board may extend voting hours at sites where voting is interrupted for at least 15 minutes, but the Board may extend voting only as long as the disruption and only for the affected site(s). All votes cast after 7:30 p.m. will be provisional votes, per state law. If voting times are extended at any location, results reporting in the affected county will be delayed until all voting is complete.
Election Night Results
Unofficial election results will be reported as they become available on the State Board’s Election Results Dashboard. (Learn about the Election Results Dashboard.) Once polls close at 7:30 p.m., the dashboard will be updated regularly throughout election night as county boards of elections report results to the state.
See the Election Night Reporting Timeline for detailed information on when unofficial election night results are expected to show up on the Election Results Dashboard.
For media outlets that wish to publish live results on their sites, please see our Media Results File.
After Election Day
No election ends on Election Day, and results reported on election night are always unofficial. This is by design — and by state and federal law — to ensure that final election results are accurate and that all ballots cast lawfully by eligible voters are counted.
Post-election processes result in changes to the unofficial results announced on election night, with eligible ballots being added and ineligible ballots being removed from the vote totals. This is the normal canvass process during every election, though typically these processes do not change contest outcomes.
After Election Day, the following ballots still must be counted and the votes added to the count: provisional ballots cast by eligible voters; absentee ballots that have been cured; and mailed military and overseas voters’ ballots received after Election Day but before 5 p.m. Nov. 12.
The following processes may result in votes being subtracted from the count after Election Day: challenges to absentee ballots filed by voters, and county board administrative challenges to absentee and early voting ballots based on voter eligibility audits conducted by the State Board.
All county boards will conduct public meetings between Election Day and the county canvass meeting on Friday, Nov. 13 to consider remaining ballots, add ballots that meet all statutory requirements to the results, and subtract those that do not. These meetings are open to the public. Meeting times will vary by county, and voters and members of the media interested in attending should check county board websites or contact the county board of elections.
Hand Count Audit
Under state law, every county must conduct a sample hand count of ballots in two randomly selected precincts, early voting sites, or all absentee ballots cast in the county. The State Board will randomly select the groupings in each county for the audit. These audits must be conducted in public, by bipartisan teams of counters, before the county canvass meeting on Nov. 13. Results of the hand count are compared to the results as tabulated by voting machines to ensure accuracy, and any discrepancies, which are typically very few, are explained by the county board.
County Canvass
All post-election processes culminate in the certification of results by the county boards of elections. County boards are required to hold their canvass meetings at 11 a.m. Nov. 13. They are open to the public. County boards will review election records for accuracy and certify contests and referenda within the county boundaries. For contests in the jurisdiction of the State Board, the county boards will authenticate the count of the contests, and the State Board will certify the contests at the state canvass, scheduled for Nov. 24.
Recounts
Candidates who are trailing in the vote tally, according to official results after the county canvass on Nov. 13, may request a recount under the following scenarios:
- For a statewide ballot item, the difference between the winning candidate and the candidate requesting the recount is ½ of 1% (0.5%) of the votes cast in the ballot item, or 10,000 votes, whichever is fewer.
- For a non-statewide ballot item, the difference between the winning candidate and the candidate requesting the recount is 1% or less of the total votes cast in the contest.
For contests under jurisdiction of county boards of elections, a recount request must be made in writing to the county board by 5 p.m. Monday, November 16. In contests under the jurisdiction of the State Board, including multi-county state legislative districts, the recount request must be in writing and received by the State Board by noon Tuesday, November 17.
If recounts occur, the State Board will issue detailed guidance to county boards of elections, as well as a press release about the process. For laws and rules about recounts, see Ordering recounts (N.C.G.S. § 163-182.7) and general guidelines for recounts: 08 NCAC 09 .0106, and rules for initial recounts: 08 NCAC 09 .0107, and secondary recounts: 08 NCAC 09 .0110.
Election Protests
During the post-election period, the apparent results of an election may be called into question by voters or candidates through an “election protest,” which is a formal complaint alleging that violations of election law, irregularities, or misconduct affected the results. A successful protest can correct results, cause a recount, or, although uncommon, result in a new election. For details on election protests, including how and when they must be filed and how they are considered by election officials, please see the State Board’s Election Protest Procedures Guide.
For more information on all the steps taken to verify election results, see Post-Election Procedures and Audits.
Election Security
Elections in North Carolina are secure and can be trusted due to the hard work of election officials and our state, federal, and law enforcement partners. For more information, see Election Security. Also see 10 Facts About Election Security in North Carolina.
Election and Voter Data
Voter-level data on mail and in-person early voting is available at Absentee and Provisional Data and is updated early each morning throughout the voting period. This includes information such as how a voter cast their ballot (mail vs. early voting), when they cast their ballot, and whether their ballot has been accepted. Data is available statewide, as well as by county.
Additionally, the State Board publishes two data reports each morning.
- N.C. Absentee & Early Voting Statistics for the 2026 General Election shows the total ballots cast by mail and during early voting by county, political party, and other demographics.
- Absentee-By-Mail Request Stats: 2026 General Election shows the number of absentee request by party and county.
Data on provisional ballots cast is also available at Absentee and Provisional Data. The status of each provisional ballot is included in this data, but will not be updated until county boards have researched the provisional ballot, determined whether to count it, and entered that data into the SEIMS system.
For data on outstanding ballots, please see our Outstanding Ballots Data Report, published each morning. This data contains summary numbers, by county, on the number of absentee ballots sent out, accepted, spoiled due to the voter choosing to vote early in-person, the number of absentee ballots that have been received by the county boards of elections but not counted, and the number of absentee ballots that have either not been returned or have been returned but may be cured.