North Carolina offers absentee voting by mail to all registered voters who wish to vote by mail rather than at a one-stop early voting site or on Election Day. Find detailed instructions from the N. C. State Board of Elections on how to complete, seal and return your 2026 absentee ballot.

Absentee Ballots for the 2026 General Election:

• Deadline for requesting an absentee ballot is October 20, 2026. The latest that requests can be accepted is 5 p.m. and postmarks do not qualify.

• Absentee ballots (returned by mail or in person) must be received in the Orange County Board of Elections office by 7:30 pm on November 3, 2026 to be eligible to be counted.
• Postage to mail your ballot is $1.98 for the 2026 General election.

How to Request an Absentee Ballot

• Complete the Absentee Request Form and mail it to
  Orange County Board of Elections
  PO Box 220
  Hillsborough, NC, 27278.
• Use the NC State Board of Elections’ Online Absentee Ballot Request Portal.

How to complete an Absentee Ballot:

• Mark your ballot: Mark your ballot in the presence of a notary public or two witnesses.
• Seal your ballot container envelope: Place your ballot in the envelope that came with your ballot and seal the envelope. Don’t put anything else into the envelope.
• Sign the ballot container envelope: Sign your name on the back of the ballot container envelope.
• Have your witnesses or notary public sign the ballot container envelope: Two witnesses or a notary public must sign the back of ballot container envelope.
• Place a copy of your photo ID in the ballot container envelope: Place a copy of an eligible photo ID in the clear sleeve on the back of your ballot container envelope. If you are unable to provide a copy of a photo ID, complete and place the Photo ID Exception form (yellow form in your ballot package) into the clear sleeve.
• Place ballot container envelope into the official ballot return envelope: Place the completed and sealed ballot envelope inside the absentee return envelope and seal the envelop.

How to return an Absentee Ballot:

• Completed, witnessed absentee ballot envelopes may be returned by mail or in person to the Orange County Board of Elections.
• During early voting an absentee ballot may be returned to an early voting site rather than the Board of Elections. On Election Day, absentee ballots can only be returned to the Board of Elections Office by 7:30 pm.

Track your ballot’s progress. 

• You can follow your ballot through the mail, and the full counting process, using an app North Carolina has partnered with called BallotTrax.

Military and Overseas Voting

The federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) allows certain to vote by mail-in ballot. Find information at Military and Overseas Voting.