RALEIGH – Preliminary North Carolina State Board of Elections data show 3.1% of returned absentee-by-mail ballots in spoiled status at the current stage of the 2026 general election, up from 2.6% at the comparable point in 2022.
The comparison was provided by the state board as counties process mail ballots under updated signature and envelope rules. It is a changing snapshot, not a final rejection rate. Some voters whose ballot packages have deficiencies can correct the problem, receive a replacement ballot or vote in person, depending on the issue and how much time remains.
The board’s daily absentee report separates ballots into several categories, including accepted, received but not accepted, spoiled, pending and outstanding. Its public report guide says “received, not accepted” covers multiple conditions, such as missing witness information or other deficiencies that require review. A spoiled ballot has been canceled in the election system and may be replaced when the voter remains eligible and time allows.
New state guidance requires voters to seal the completed ballot inside the inner container-return envelope. It also directs county officials to determine whether the name signed on the absentee application appears to be the voter’s name. A federal judge declined Oct. 19 to pause those rules while a lawsuit challenging them continues.
Mecklenburg County data cited by WBTV illustrate how the statewide categories can change. The county reported 572 spoiled ballots among roughly 18,900 returned mail ballots. About 250 were attributed to the new signing and sealing requirements, while 50 voters had already cured the issue or voted in person by the time of the report.
The statewide figures do not support treating every spoiled ballot as permanently rejected. They also do not establish that the rate has doubled from the same point in the 2022 election. County processing, voter responses and additional ballot returns can move the percentages before canvass.
Voters can check the status of a mail ballot through the state’s BallotTrax system or contact their county board of elections. The state board’s public file is updated daily, so later reports may differ from the Oct. 21 snapshot.
Sources
- North Carolina State Board of Elections: Outstanding Ballots Data Report Summary
- WRAL: Preliminary statewide absentee-ballot status data
- WBTV: State and Mecklenburg County absentee-ballot data
Photo Credit: ArielGlenn via Wikimedia Commons; CC BY-SA 4.0. Contextual file photograph of a completed mail ballot entering a U.S. Postal Service collection box, Aug. 13, 2026. Cropped for layout; resulting card distributed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Editor’s Note: This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.