2026 Border Belt Election Guide

To be able to register to vote in the state of North Carolina, you must meet the following requirements, as written by the North Carolina State Board of Elections:

• Be a U.S. citizen.
  • Citizenship documents are not required to register.
• Live in the county where you are registering, and have resided there for at least 30 days prior to Election Day.
  • The federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) allows certain voters who are active duty military or their families as well as U.S. citizens abroad special rights that provide an expedited means to register and vote by mail-in ballot. 
• Be at least 18 years old, or will be by the date of the general election. 16- and 17-year-olds may preregister to vote.
• Not be serving a felony sentence, including any period of probation, post-release supervision, or parole.

North Carolina’s voter registration deadline is 25 days prior to Election Day. For this election, that falls on October 9. However, if you miss that deadline, you may still be able to complete same-day registration in person during the early voting period, which ends October 31. 

There are several options for North Carolina residents for voter registration:

• Registering online: Voters can register using the online portal on the DMV website at this link, or by downloading the myNCDMV app. 
• Registering by mail: To register by mail, download the form below and complete it. Then, mail the completed form with necessary documentation to the North Carolina State Board of Elections. 
• Registering in person: Residents can visit their county election office to register in person. Several state agencies, including the DMV, are required to offer voter registration services. You can find more information about that on the NCSBE website. Residents can also register to vote in-person during early voting. 

You can check your voter registration status with the state’s Voter Search tool.

You can find early voting sites and schedules in your county using the North Carolina State Board of Elections’ Early Voting Site Search. The addresses for early voting sites in Border Belt counties are below:

Bladen County

Columbus County

Robeson County

Scotland County

Polls open at 6:30 a.m. on Election Day and close at 7:30 p.m. If you are in line when polls close, you should stay in line to be able to vote. 

Your Election Day voting site can be found using the NCSBE Election Day Polling Place Search.

All North Carolina voters will be allowed to vote with or without a photo ID, but all will be asked to show photo ID when voting. 

The following count as a valid photo ID:

• An unexpired driver’s license or state ID
• An unexpired student ID approved by the NCSBE (see list of approved IDs here)
• An unexpired public employee or charter school employee ID approved by the NCSBE (see list of approved IDs here)
• An unexpired U.S. passport
• Military or veterans ID card
• Tribal enrollment card issued by a federally recognized tribe or a tribe recognized by the state of North Carolina

County boards of elections can also issue photo IDs specifically for voters for free. Learn more here. 

Voters who complete an absentee ballot must include a photocopy of their ID or an ID exemption form. 

You can also use an ID exception form if you are unable to provide an ID as listed above. For in-person voters, an ID exception form means the ballot will be cast provisionally. The following count as permitted reasons to not have an ID:

• There is a “reasonable impediment” to showing ID as outlined on the NCSBE website, a list which includes applying for photo ID but not having yet received it
• The voter was a victim of a natural disaster within 100 days of Election Day
• The voter has a religious reason for not wanting to be photographed

In 2025, the North Carolina State Board of Elections determined that more than 100,000 voters had to provide additional documentation to verify their registration. Without the documentation, those voters would have to cast a provisional ballot on Election Day. 

At time of publication, more than 63,000 voters remain on this list. You can see if you appear on the list by using the Registration Repair Search Tool. 

Those who need to participate in the registration repair process can do so by providing an N.C. driver’s license number or DMV number online, visiting their county elections board office with their social security number or driver’s license, or by filling out a letter mailed to them by the State Board of Elections. You can learn more about that process on the State Board of Elections website.