Gov. Josh Stein Slams Surge in Rejected Mail Ballots: Urges Voters, 'Don't Let Them Take Your Vote'
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein took to social media on the evening of Oct. 20 to attack the State Board of Elections' new mail voting rules, saying they have caused thousands of absentee ballots to be rejected — a rejection rate twice that of 2022 — and calling it outrageous. He urged voters to make a plan and vote in person if possible, and if voting by mail, to seal both the inner and outer envelopes: 'Don't let them take your vote.'
The dispute stems from rules the board adopted in September on a partisan vote: voters must seal their ballot in an inner envelope before placing it in the outer envelope, and only a 'near relative' may assist another person with a ballot. Data obtained by Democracy Docket shows the new rules have led to about 2.5 percent of mail ballots being rejected in some large counties, and, counting all causes, rejection rates of 7 to 8 percent in some Democratic strongholds. Voting-rights groups sued to overturn the rules, but a federal judge ruled on Oct. 19 to keep them in place through the November election. Absentee ballot requests for the midterm closed Oct. 20, and in-person early voting runs from Oct. 15 to Oct. 31. According to State Board of Elections data, more than 500,000 ballots were accepted in the first three days of early voting — 501,318 through Oct. 17 — up 38.2 percent from the same point in 2022.
Related: Federal Judge Keeps North Carolina Mail Voting Restrictions in Place for November Election
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons 授权图（北卡罗来纳州立法大楼，Raleigh；CC BY-SA 3.0）
