2026 N.C. General Election Day

• The 2026 general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026.
• Polling places will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
  • Any voter in line at their assigned polling place at 7:30 p.m. will be able to vote.
• Registered voters can find their polling place and sample ballot here: Voter Search.

*RULE CHANGE FOR 2026: For voting by mail, please be aware that the Trump administration has provided new rules to the U.S. Postal Service for 2026 that change the postmark date guidelines so that instead of your mail being postmarked the date that you mailed it, it will now not be postmarked until it runs through an automated machine, which could be days later. You are still able to take your mail up to the counter at the USPS and request they postmark it in person there to show it is on time. If you mail day-of, and do not do a manual postmarking, your ballot has a chance of being disqualified if it is not read by the machine that day. This is important to know so you can plan to mail days in advance.

What do I need to do before I vote? 

• Check your registration: Voters can check to make sure their registration information is accurate and up to date using the Voter Search tool. There, you can also find your polling place, absentee ballot information, and more.
• Find your sample ballot: All eligible, registered voters will find their sample ballot(s) in the “Your Sample Ballot” section of their Voter Search profile when they become available. For even-year elections, sample ballots are typically available 50 days before Election Day.
• Don’t forget your photo ID: North Carolina voters will be asked to show photo ID when they check in to vote. Learn more: Voter ID. (You can still vote day-of if you forget your ID!)

Do I need to do anything after I vote?

• Check that your vote was counted that night, and a week later, and keep track of news. Note that when you inserted your ballot into a tabulator, your selections were recorded on a media card in the tabulator. These results were counted and reported publicly on election night. For further confirmation that your ballot was counted, use the Voter Search. Your ballot status will show up in the “Your Voter History” section as soon as your county completes the post-election process of assigning voter history to your record.
  • • In the 2024 elections, the N.C. supreme court seat race of Griffin vs. Riggs saw nearly 65,000 votes end up on a challenge list created by Griffin where the voters had to reach back out to provide more information for their vote to count.
• Deadline to show voter ID if only a provisional ballot was cast.

To learn more, visit:

https://www.ncsbe.gov/voting/upcoming-election

https://www.ncsbe.gov/voting/vote-person-election-day

To learn more about elections in Raleigh specifically, visit https://raleighnc.gov/government/services/vote-local-our-community-our-city-your-vote