With North Carolina absentee by mail ballots being distributed, partisan differences evident on when mail-in ballots should be returned

With North Carolina counties mailing absentee ballots this week, a majority of North Carolinians (53 percent) believe that mail-in votes should be received by the time polls close on Election Day, while 47 percent believe that a three-day grace period should be allowed if the ballots are post-marked by Election Day, according to a recent Catawba College-YouGov survey.

In 2023, North Carolina law was changed to require absentee by mail ballots be received at the county board of elections office by close of the polls on Election Day. Prior to this statutory change, mail-in ballots had a three-day grace period, if they were postmarked no later than Election Day.

According to the survey, partisan differences exist on mail-in voting delivery deadline: 80 percent of self-identified Republicans chose the Election Day poll closing receipt, while 72 percent of self-identified Democrats chose the three-day grace period.

Among the 1,000 North Carolinians surveyed from August 7 to 20, 2024, White and Black respondents had differences as well regarding when mail-in ballots should be due: 60 percent of White respondents picked the Election Day deadline, while two-thirds of Black respondents chose the three-day grace period.

Relatedly, a quarter of Republican respondents expressed the ‘coldest’ feelings towards absentee by mail voting in North Carolina, with only 12 percent expressing the ‘warmest’ feelings. In comparison, 40 percent of Democrats expressed warm feelings for mail-in voting, and only 6 percent expressed the coldest feelings.

“It’s likely that North Carolina Republicans continue the feelings expressed by former president Donald Trump regarding mail-in voting,” said Dr. Michael Bitzer, Catawba College’s Leonard Chair of political science and director of the Center for North Carolina Politics & Public Service. “Even with recent GOP efforts this year to encourage early voting, including mail-in voting, the fact that a quarter of Republican respondents have the coldest feelings to that vote method is notable.”

The Catawba-YouGov survey was administered for the independent cross-partisan Commission on the Future of North Carolina Elections about North Carolinians’ knowledge and awareness of election protections regarding the 2024 election and the administration of safe, secure, and fair elections in the state. The survey’s margin of error (adjusted for weights) is +/- 3.87 percent. This is the third release of the survey findings, with previous releases on voter confidence and concerns, along with knowledge and awareness, of election policies.

With North Carolina preparing to cast early, in-person voting starting on October 17, respondents were asked about the length of early, in-person voting and about Sunday early voting. Overall, 68 percent of North Carolinians believe that the state has “about the right amount of days” for early voting, while 19 percent believed there are ‘too many days, needs to be reduced’ and another 12 percent believed there are ‘too few days, needs to be expanded.’

"North Carolina has one of the longest periods of early voting in the country and it is clear from this survey that the overwhelming majority of North Carolinians consider this a policy that's good for the state,” said Dr. Christoper Cooper, Robert Lee Madison Distinguished Professor and Director of the Haire Institute for Public policy Institute at Western Carolina University.

But like mail-in voting, partisan differences are notable regarding early in-person voting. While three-quarters of Democratic respondents said there was the ‘right amount of days,’ two out of ten responded there were too few and that early voting needed to be expanded. Conversely, among Republican respondents, while 64 percent said it was the ‘right amount,’ 31 percent said there were ‘too many days’ and that early voting should be reduced.

Within the different age groups, only 12 percent of the youngest respondents (18-35 years old) said there were too many early voting days, compared to a quarter of those 51 years and older who said there were too many early voting days.

When asked about the two Sundays occurring during early voting period, a majority—54 percent—of respondents said all 100 North Carolina counties should offer voting for each of the Sundays, while 31 percent said it should be left up to the individual counties if they should offer Sunday voting.

Among Democratic respondents, 72 percent said all 100 counties should offer voting on both Sundays, while only 37 percent of Republicans said so. Republican respondents had the largest percentage (29 percent) who said none of North Carolinian’s counties should offer Sunday voting.

Other findings of the Catawba-YouGov survey on North Carolinians’ opinions and feelings about the state’s election policies:

*    57 percent of self-identified Democrats had the warmest feelings towards early, in-person voting, compared to 35 percent of Republicans.
*    74 percent of those under 43 years old responded that NC has about the right amount of early, in-person voting, compared to 62 percent of those over 60 years old
*    61 percent of self-identified Republicans had the warmest feelings to Election Day voting, while 48 percent of Democrats and 41 percent of Independents expressed the warmest feelings.
*    62 percent of Boomers and the Silent generations (those voters over 60 years old) had the warmest feelings to Election Day, while 38 percent of Generation Z and Millennials (those under the age of 43 years old) expressed the warmest feelings.
*    78 percent of Republicans had the warmest feelings towards providing a photo identification at the time of voting, compared to 47 percent of Independents and 40 percent of Democrats.
*    40 percent of Democrats had the warmest feelings toward same-day registration during early voting, but only 19 percent of Republicans expressed the same warmth towards that policy.