NC plans to start mailing 2026 ballots Friday. Could the rules still change before then?

North Carolina officials plan to meet Friday to discuss possibly changing rules for mail-in voting — a meeting that would come only hours before mail-in voting is set to begin in the 2026 midterms.

Under state law, ballots must be mailed out starting Friday. The North Carolina State Board of Elections plans to start doing so at noon. But first, it has called a special meeting for 9 a.m. Friday to discuss providing new guidance on mail-in voting.

The board had originally planned to vote Wednesday on that new guidance. But its members delayed action until Friday, then went into a closed-door meeting with their attorneys before adjourning. 

It remained unclear as of Wednesday night what rule changes are up for consideration. Officials declined to make public any documents about issues they plan to debate, prompting questions from Gov. Josh Stein. 

“What is going on at the State Board of Elections?” Stein said in a social media post late Wednesday. “No one should have to ask these questions less than 48 hours before absentee ballots are mailed out. The State Board needs to get it together.”  

A spokesman for the elections board, Jason Tyson, told WRAL on Wednesday that documents related to the meeting are subject to attorney-client privilege. Tyson added that some documents might be made public in advance of Friday’s meeting.

Elections officials also plan to hold a press conference Thursday to discuss mail-in voting and other preparations for this year’s elections.

In a news release late Wednesday, state elections officials provided a list of tips on absentee voting, along with deadlines for the general election. 

"Election officials across North Carolina will start mailing absentee ballots out later this week and are prepared to serve voters throughout this important election season,” Sam Hayes, executive director of the State Board of Elections, said in a statement. “All registered voters can choose how they wish to cast their ballot: by mail, in person during the 17-day early voting period, or in person on Election Day. We are confident that this process will be as smooth, secure, and seamless as possible for voters."

Back-and-forth over the rules

The last-minute push for possible rule changes comes soon after the board’s Republican majority appeared to have been foiled in a previous effort to change mail-in voting rules.

Those changes would’ve expanded a list of technicalities that could be used to throw out people’s ballots. Supporters said they were simply enforcing state law more stringently to improve election integrity. Opponents, including the Democratic governor, said the rules are unlikely to stop fraud and would cause legitimate ballots to be thrown out over minor errors, such as using an incorrect envelope.

The elections board approved the changes earlier this summer in a party-line vote with its Republican members in favor and Democratic members opposed. “We’re supporting a lie,” Democratic board member Jeff Carmon said at the time, saying there’s no evidence of the type of fraud that supporters of the rules say they’re trying to combat.

Hayes said it’s important to show voters the rules are being strictly enforced. “What instills faith in elections is adherence to the letter and spirit of the law,” he said at the time.

But due to an outpouring of formal comments in opposition to those new rules, they were blocked from taking effect until winning approval from state lawmakers. However, the legislature is out of session — with no plans to return until after the November midterms are over.

So while it had appeared that the elections board would not be able to change the mail-in voting rules for this upcoming election, it’s possible the board could think differently, with plans to put some sort of changes into action at Friday’s meeting.

Federal lawsuits add to confusion

Amid the lack of clarity over what rules might govern mail-in voting in North Carolina this year, there’s also a swirl of chaos over its fate nationwide at the federal level.

Multiple federal lawsuits are also still in motion that could determine the fate of mail-in voting in North Carolina and many other states this year.

Republican President Donald Trump has sought for years to crack down on voting by mail, despite typically voting by mail himself, and he’s currently seeking the power to order the U.S. Postal Service to refuse to transmit mail-in ballots in certain states.

That plan is currently blocked, due to lawsuits by two dozen Democratic attorneys general — including North Carolina’s Jeff Jackson — who say any federal control of elections is unconstitutional. But Trump has appealed that decision, and it’s still possible his plan could be allowed to go into place.

Time is quickly running out, at least for 2026. Unless a judge rules otherwise, and soon, North Carolina will kick off voting nationwide on Friday, when it’s set to be the first state to start sending out ballots.

Tyson, the elections board spokesman, said last week the state was anticipating being allowed to send out mail-in ballots as planned. “It appears right now like the rule will likely not be in place for the midterms,” he said of Trump’s executive order. “And so we plan to proceed on as business as usual. If anything changes, we plan to follow the law as settled.”