Voters whose absentee ballots have problems with their envelopes can now expect contact from board of elections offices in order to fix their ballots by Election Day.
And less than 24 hours after North Carolina added new guidelines on handling those problems, the N.C. Court of Appeals ruled that ballots could be collected through Nov. 12 if they were postmarked by 5 p.m. Nov. 3, Election Day.
Ten thousand ballots had problems but were caught in the crossfire of three lawsuits pending in both state and federal court and voters could not be contacted until the conclusion of those lawsuits that are now before the N.C. Court of Appeals.
But on Sunday, the N.C. State Board of Elections issued the new guidance to county boards that allowed for voters to be contacted in order to fix their ballots before Election Day.
Senate Leader Phil Berger’s office provided The News & Observer a letter written by Ryan Park, solicitor general for the N.C. Attorney General’s office, to the N.C. Court of Appeals. Park wrote in the letter that Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore agreed that new guidance can be given to the county boards that they may now contact voters who need to fix their ballots.