GREENSBORO, N.C. — While there are a lot of things about the election we don't know and can't answer for you just yet, there's a whole list of things we do know and sharing the answers and info is what we're here for.
COVID & VOTING
A viewer asked, What if you waited until election day to vote and now you're sick, possibly even with COVID-19?
“If you have Coronavirus on Election Day, you can still go to your polls and vote curbside in your car, because on Election Day it's too late to vote on any other type of ballot,” said Guilford County BOE Director Charlie Collicutt. Again, you will vote curbside with a mask and social distancing.
WHY IS THERE NO STRAIGHT PARTY TICKET?
There is no straight-ticket voting in North Carolina. In fact, there are only six states in the US that allow straight-ticket voting: Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.
North Carolina put an end to straight-ticket voting in 2014 as part of the 2013 legislation.
WILL ALL ABSENTEE BALLOTS BE COUNTED…NO MATTER WHAT?
Viewer Daniel asks, Are absentee ballot counted only if the gap between each candidate is fewer than the number of ballots mailed out?
Say 100,000 votes separate Cooper and Forest but only 70,000 ballots were mailed out.
Do they still count them if the difference doesn't even matter?
“We count all the ballots, all the way up until the deadline, regardless of the margin of any of the races. We do count them all. There's a lot on that ballot. There's local stuff, small swings can mean the difference, so we do count every single last one, “said Collicutt.
This year, as long as absentee ballots are postmarked by November 3, the Board of Elections can tally them all the way through November 12.