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Provisional & Absentee Data

Provisional and Absentee Data

General Overview

Find provisional and absentee data, including one-stop early voting, for general and primary elections on the Historical Provisional and Absentee Files table below. For additional information, see the Frequently Asked section on this page.

What is provisional voting? Voters are given a provisional ballot should any questions about their qualifications arise. For procedural information, visit our Provisional Voting page.

Looking for absentee voter turnout information? To explore charts and maps from the latest election, visit our Voter Turnout Statistics page. For absentee stats reports of requests and ballots cast from 2018 onward, explore the Press folder on our FTP site. 

Historical Provisional and Absentee Files

For your convenience, we have compiled provisional and absentee voting data files for 20+ years of general and primary elections below. To explore election results data more broadly, visit the Election Night Results file on our FTP site. In the table below, you will find:

  • Provisional Files, which are a record of every provisional ballot cast. For a list of variables, launch the Provisional File Layout TXT document.
  • Absentee Files, which are a record of every absentee ballot cast, including those cast in person during the one-stop early voting period. For a list of variables, see our Absentee File Layout TXT document.
  • Absentee Count Files that contain high-level demographic data. For a list of variables, review the Absentee Counts by County Layout TXT document or Absentee Counts by State Layout TXT document accordingly.
Election Date Provisional Files Absentee Files Absentee Count Files

11/3/2020

.txt

.zip (statewide)

.zip (by county)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

6/23/2020

.txt

.zip (statewide)

.zip (by county)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

3/3/2020

.txt

.zip (statewide)

.zip (by county)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

11/5/2019

.txt

.zip (statewide)

.zip (by county)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

10/8/2019

.txt

.zip (statewide)

.zip (by county)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

9/10/2019

.txt

.zip (statewide)

.zip (by county)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

7/9/2019

.txt

.zip (statewide)

.zip (by county)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

5/14/2019

.txt

.zip (statewide)

.zip (by county)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

4/30/2019

.txt

.zip (statewide)

.zip (by county)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

11/6/2018

.txt

.zip (statewide w/o ethnicity)

.zip (statewide w/ ethnicity)

.zip (by county)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

6/26/2018

.txt

.zip (statewide)

.zip (by county)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

5/8/2018

.txt

.zip (statewide)

.zip (by county)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

11/7/2017

.txt

.zip (statewide)

.zip (by county)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

10/10/2017

.txt

.zip (statewide)

.zip (by county)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

9/12/2017

.txt

.zip (statewide)

.zip (by county)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

11/8/2016

.txt

.zip (statewide w/o ethnicity)

.zip (statewide w/ ethnicity)

.zip (by county)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

6/7/2016

.txt

.zip (statewide)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

3/15/2016

.txt

.zip (statewide)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

11/3/2015

.zip

.zip (statewide)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

10/6/2015

.zip

.zip (statewide)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

9/15/2015

.zip

.zip (statewide)

.zip (by county)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

5/12/2015

-

.zip (statewide)

-

11/4/2014

.zip

.zip (statewide w/o ethnicity)

.zip (statewide w/ ethnicity)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

7/15/2014

.zip

.zip (statewide)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

5/6/2014

.zip

.zip (statewide)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

11/5/2013

.zip

.zip (statewide)

-

10/8/2013

-

.zip (statewide)

-

9/10/2013

-

.zip (statewide)

-

11/6/2012

.zip

.zip (statewide w/o ethnicity)

.zip (statewide w/ ethnicity)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

7/17/2012

.zip

.zip (statewide)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

5/8/2012

.zip

.zip (statewide)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

11/8/2011

-

.zip (statewide)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

10/11/2011

-

.zip (statewide)

-

9/13/2011

-

.zip (statewide)

-

11/2/2010

.zip

.zip (statewide w/o ethnicity)

.zip (statewide w/ ethnicity)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

6/22/2010

.zip

.zip (statewide)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

5/4/2010

.zip

.zip (statewide)

.csv (statewide)

.csv (by county)

11/3/2009

.zip

.zip (statewide)

-

10/6/2009

.zip

.zip (statewide)

-

9/15/2009

.zip

.zip (statewide)

-

8/18/2009

.zip

-

-

7/28/2009

.zip

-

-

6/23/2009

.zip

-

-

6/16/2009

.zip

-

-

6/2/2009

.zip

-

-

5/19/2009

.zip

-

-

5/5/2009

.zip

-

-

3/10/2009

.zip

-

-

2/3/2009

.zip

-

-

1/6/2009

.zip

-

-

11/4/2008

-

.zip (statewide)

-

6/24/2008

-

.zip (statewide)

-

5/6/2008

-

.zip (statewide)

-

11/7/2006

-

.zip (statewide)

-

9/12/2006

-

.zip (statewide)

-

5/30/2006

-

.zip (statewide)

-

5/2/2006

-

.zip (statewide)

-

11/2/2004

-

.zip (statewide)

-

8/17/2004

-

.zip (statewide)

-

7/20/2004

-

.zip (statewide)

-

11/5/2002

-

.zip (statewide)

-

9/10/2002

-

.zip (statewide)

-

11/7/2000

-

.zip (statewide)

-

Frequently Asked

Why do you group provisional and absentee files on this page?

Both provisional and absentee by-mail ballots are processed and fed into a tabulator during board meetings held by county boards of elections. Note: Also included in the data are absentee ballots that are cast in person during the early voting period.

Why don't absentee ballot requests appear in the absentee files immediately, as they did in the past?

In 2019, the General Assembly, in Session Law 2019-239, amended subsection (c) of N.C.G.S. § 163-228 to make the absentee request register confidential and not a public record until Election Day. As a result, detailed absentee mail-in ballot information is no longer reported until the ballot is returned or until polls open on Election Day.

Beginning with the 2020 general election, you may view absentee ballot request counts using the Absentee Request Demographic Stats files (see, e.g., the 2020 general election file absentee_demo_stats_20201103.csv). You may also now view daily absentee request reports in the Press folder on our FTP site.  

How do the data evolve throughout the election, and when are files updated?

Absentee voting data files are available/updated in three stages:

Stage 1: The absentee file becomes available on our website on the first day that mail-in ballots are sent to voters. After mail-in ballots start going out to voters, absentee files are refreshed daily and include data for returned/processed mail-in ballots from the day before. Detailed absentee mail-in ballot information is not made publicly available until ballots are returned or polls open on Election Day. 

Stage 2: Between the start of one-stop early voting and Election Day, ballots cast via one-stop early voting are added to the absentee files the day after being cast.

Stage 3: On and after Election Day, all requested and cast mail-in and one-stop ballots are included in the file. This includes detailed data for mail-in ballots that have not been returned.

What data are included in the absentee files?

These files contain ballot-level absentee request and voting data for each election, at the statewide or county level.

What's included? 

  • One row of data per ballot (requested and/or cast)
  • Ballot information for absentee by-mail ballots includes request date, send date, return date, return status (e.g., ACCEPTED, SPOILED, etc.), and mailing address.
  • Ballot information for one-stop early voting ballots includes voting date (called return date), early voting site, and same-day registration information.
  • Voter information includes name, demographics (e.g., party, gender, race), mailing address, precinct, and district.
  • For full list of variables included, see layout_absentee.txt

What's not included? 

  • Detailed absentee mail-in ballot information remains confidential (and is not reported) until the ballot is returned or until polls open on Election Day; see the Absentee Request Stats file for aggregated absentee request counts.
  • Election results/ballot item choices are not included; see Historical Election Results for these data.
What data are included in the absentee counts files?

These files contain group-level ballot counts for each election (includes both absentee by-mail ballots and one-stop early voting).

What's included in absentee counts by county? 

  • Ballot count (number of absentee ballots cast) aggregated by county and  ballot request type ('MAIL' or 'ONE-STOP'), as well as voter party, voter gender, and voter race
  • For full list of variables included, see layout_absentee_counts_state.txt or layout_absentee_counts_county.txt

What's included in absentee counts statewide? 

  • Ballot count (number of absentee ballots cast) aggregated by ballot request type ('MAIL' or 'ONE-STOP'), as well as voter party, voter gender, and voter race
  • For full list of variables included, see layout_absentee_counts_state.txt

What's not included in either file? 

  • Individual-level voter information (name, mailing address, etc.) is not included; see absentee files for these data.
Why are one-stop early voting data included in the absentee files?

In North Carolina, when you vote early at a one-stop site, you are voting an absentee ballot. By law in North Carolina, early voting is considered “absentee in person,” as you voted “absent” of Election Day. Several weeks after the election, your county board of elections will assign this vote to your “Voter History.”

What is the best way to join an absentee file with another file?

For the purposes of matching voters:

  • When joining files that were created at different points in time, we recommend joining the files via “ncid”; for example, when joining an absentee file with a voter history file or a voter registration file, we recommend matching on “ncid”
  • When joining files that were created around the same point in time, we recommend joining the files via voter registration number and county; for example, when joining an absentee file with a voter registration snapshot file, we recommend matching on voter registration number ("voter_reg_num") and county.

Results & Data

  • Election Results
  • Voter History Data
  • Voter Registration Data
  • Voting Maps/Redistricting
  • Provisional & Absentee Data
  • Candidate Lists
  • Polling Place Data
  • FTP Site

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North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE)

PO Box 27255
Raleigh NC 27611-7255

Email: elections.sboe@ncsbe.gov
Phone: (919) 814-0700
Fax: (919) 715-0135

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