In most states, voting by mail means submitting what is traditionally known as an “absentee ballot.” The name derives from the original intent of providing absentee ballots: the voter anticipated being away from their place of residence, or otherwise would be unable to make it to their precinct’s polling place, on election day. Early on, when applying to vote in this manner, the voter was required to state one of a limited number of “excuses” for voting absentee. California first offered no-excuse absentee ballots in the late 1970’s. The practice has expanded in the past two decades, and in that time frame states also began offering early in-person voting. Our family voted that way in the November 2008 election.

When we moved to Ohio in 2009, we voted in person on election day a couple times, and then found that Ohio had no excuse absentee balloting. The process was a simple one. Voters could download an absentee ballot application, fill it out, and submit it to the county elections board. After receiving the absentee ballot, the voter would complete it, and on the accompanying envelope, would only need to provide the last digits of their Social Security number or their driver license number to verify identity. I voted in that manner exclusively for several years.

Until last week, North Carolina required voters using absentee ballots to complete the ballot in the presence of two witnesses, who then has to sign the ballot envelope, or in the presence of a notary public, who then signs the envelope and affixes the notary seal. This process is cumbersome enough in ordinary times, but becomes a real obstacle to using the process in the time of COVID-19. Households without three adult members would have to search to find one or two witnesses, or a notary. With social distancing the only present way to ameliorate exposure to the virus, the witness search makes using an absentee ballot a risky undertaking.

On June 11th the General Assembly approved and the next day Governor Cooper signed Session Law 2020-17, which makes several changes intended to make voting easier. A copy of the law is available at the end of this post. To begin with, Section 1 of the law expressly provides that for 2020 elections, only one witness is required to be present when the voter marks the ballot and to sign the ballot envelope. This will increase the number of voter households that can find witnesses at home; however, those who live alone or with no other adults will still need to search for a witness.

Section 7 adds a new means for voters to request an absentee ballot. It authorizes the State Board of Elections to establish a web site on which voters may submit requests for an absentee ballot. Those requests will be forwarded to the appropriate county board of elections for processing. But the General Assembly refused to allow the State Board to make absentee voting even easier: Section 6 of the act prohibits the mailing of absentee ballots to anyone who did not submit the written or web site application.

The law adds a new form of acceptable ID to the state’s in-person voting requirements; at present those requirements are suspended by a decision of the state’s Court of Appeals. It appears likely that the final decision regarding the ID requirements will not issue before the November election.

With the adoption of the new law, absentee voting becomes just a little easier in North Carolina, for the balance of this year.