More high-profile visits to NC as Election Day approaches

The U.S. Postal Service has reopened all of its mail processing centers in areas of Florida and North Carolina hit by recent hurricanes, a top official said Wednesday in a briefing meant to reassure voters and election officials that the agency is ready to handle mail ballots.

The Postal Service held the virtual meeting less than two weeks before the Nov. 5 election and six weeks after state and local election officials warned that problems with mail service threatened to disenfranchise voters. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy later responded that the Postal Service makes "heroic efforts" to get even ballots mailed late to election offices on time.

Even after Hurricane Helene in late September and Hurricane Milton this month, 99.9% of the nation's election-related mail was delivered within seven days, the Postal Service reported Wednesday. It said 99.7% of the election-related mail was delivered within three days for the last presidential election in 2020.

"We have the capacity to handle a high volume of election mail in the final weeks of the election," said Steven Monteith, a Postal Service executive vice president and its chief marketing officer.

Monteith said all the processing centers in North Carolina were back in operation as of Tuesday, as were all of Florida's centers. He said mail can be delivered to all but 4,600 addresses in North Carolina and about 600 in Florida.

It's not clear how many voters in the hardest-hit areas will return their ballots by mail. Early in-person voting has gotten off to a strong start in North Carolina, where election officials have taken a number of steps to make voting as accessible as possible for voters affected by the storms. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has extended early voting to Election Day for certain counties and modified deadlines for election supervisors to send out mail ballots.

As of Tuesday, the Postal Service had moved retail sites in eight communities and brought mobile units into another 13 in western North Carolina around Asheville and Charlotte. It moved 10 retail sites in the Tampa-St. Petersburg metropolitan area and another three in and around Fort Myers.

Monteith said a "full recovery" of mail service from the hurricanes "may stretch forward for some time," but that people still can pick up mail at post offices or mobile units. He said mail that had been undelivered because of the hurricanes is being moved to them.

"The nation's postal network is operating effectively without any major reported disruptions," Monteith said.

During a separate Monday briefing, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, said voters can take some comfort in the fact that election officials are not asking the Postal Service "to be on high, high alert forever and ever."

"We're asking them for the next 15 days to be on the top of their game," said Simon, the president of the National Association of Secretaries of State.

In September, NASS and the National Association of State Election Directors sent DeJoy a letter saying that problems with mail delivery hadn't been adequately addressed.

But earlier this month, one vocal critic, Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, a Republican, said a phone call with DeJoy reassured him that the Postal Service would address problems in his state.

Schwab's office reported that at least 697 ballots from the state's August primary election arrived at election offices too late to be counted, and at least another 78 did not have the required postmark. Of those 775 ballots, 79% were from three populous counties, Johnson and Wyandotte counties in the Kansas City area and Douglas County in northeastern Kansas, home to the main University of Kansas campus.

Utah's Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, a Republican who oversees elections in her state, said the state has experienced some problems with mail ballots being routed through Las Vegas and not being postmarked on time. But she said postal workers "understand the urgency and the importance" of on-time delivery.

"Things will go wrong," she said. "But every little thing just feeds that conspiracy monster, right? And it's so not helpful."

Postal Service officials are advising voters to mail their ballots at least seven days in advance.

"What we've been trying to do, in addition to working with the Postal Service, is to help voters understand that they're responsible ultimately for their own ballots," Henderson said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

There are some things you can do when going to cast your ballot -- and some you can't. Some are even against the law.

Know before you go. The State Board of Elections asked county boards of elections across the state for common voter questions, concerns, and misconceptions during the first days of in-person early voting.

Here are 12 key things to know as you go to the polls.

Lines at early voting sites. This is a presidential election, and millions of North Carolinians will cast ballots in 2024. There will be lines at certain times at early voting sites and Election Day polling places. Be prepared. Wear comfortable shoes, bring a chair if you have difficulty standing for long periods, pack water or snacks, and depending on the weather forecast, consider bringing an umbrella or handheld fan. You can also check your county board of elections' website to see if they have a wait time tracker for voting sites. Lines are typically longest at the beginning and end of the early voting period.

Photo ID. Many different types of photo IDs are accepted, including driver's licenses and passports. Find a complete list at BringItNC.gov. If you are older than 65 and your driver's license did not expire on your 65th birthday, you can use that to vote. You do not have to bring your voter registration card, but you should bring an acceptable form of ID. If you do not have one, you can get one for free from your county board of elections office, or fill out an exception form at your voting site explaining why you were unable to show ID.

Secure, auxiliary bin. Every ballot scanner, or tabulator, at voting sites has a secure, auxiliary bin attached to it. If there is a problem with a tabulator - power outage, ballot jam, etc. - voters will temporarily place their ballots in the bin instead of inserting them in the tabulator. When the issue with the tabulator is resolved, a bipartisan team of election officials will insert the ballots from the bin into the tabulator. Additionally, the county board of elections will ensure the total number of ballots cast matches the number of voters who checked in at the site. This ensures every ballot is accounted for and counted.

With hundreds of tabulators used across the state during early voting and thousands on Election Day, occasionally a tabulator can experience a problem. This is why the auxiliary bin exists, and it is the industry standard used to address these situations in jurisdictions across the country.

Can poll workers write on your ballot? In North Carolina, yes, poll workers can, and often do write on ballots. This is done for various reasons as required by law. Social media posts suggesting that writing on your ballot will invalidate it have been circulating for years, and they are false. For more information, see Fact: In NC, if an Election Worker Writes on Your Ballot, It Does Not Invalidate It.

Your ballot will count, even if you leave some contests blank. You do not have to make a selection in every contest on your ballot. If you skip contests, your votes will be counted in all other contests on your ballot. Leaving a contest blank will not invalidate your ballot.

Your ballot will count, regardless of voting method. The ballot of every eligible North Carolinian will be counted regardless of which voting method they choose - absentee, in-person early, or in-person on Election Day.

Can I take a selfie with my ballot? No. In North Carolina, it is illegal to take a selfie with your ballot or photograph your ballot. North Carolina law prohibits photographing or videotaping voted ballots. Voters may use their electronic devices in the voting booth to access candidate information, provided they don't use the devices to communicate with anyone or take photographs of their ballot or other voters. The NCSBOE encourages selfies with "I Voted" stickers at the voter selfie stations outside voting locations instead.

Spouses can vote in the same voting booth if both request to do so. This is not common, but the state law does allow spouses to choose to vote together in the same voting booth. Poll workers should not encourage this practice; but if both spouses agree to do so, it is permissible.

Inactive voters are still registered voters. If a person in "inactive" registration status shows up to vote, they will confirm their address with a poll worker, or update their address within that county, if necessary. They will also show photo ID as required by law.

Can I just vote through the drive-through?. Yes, kind of. Curbside voting is an option from your car for voters who are unable to enter the voting place without physical assistance, usually because of age or disability. It is not for voters who do not want to wait in line. Curbside voters must sign a sworn statement affirming that because of age or disability, they are unable to enter the voting place without assistance.

Poll worker duties. Poll workers are there to ensure voters can cast ballots securely and efficiently. They cannot discuss candidates or ballot items with voters.

Candidate information. Volunteers and supporters of particular candidates are allowed to pass out fliers and other information about candidates, provided they are outside the buffer zone, which should be marked at every voting site. If campaigners become too aggressive or are inside the buffer zone, voters should report that to an election official immediately.

Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, will visit Hoke County on Friday.

Vance will speak at Defender Ammunition, 128 Defender Way, in Raeford.

Doors open for the event at 12:30 p.m. and Vance is expected to speak about 2:30 p.m.

Vance is expected to talk about the economy and the price of consumer goods, which have soared in the past four years.

Those interested in attending can click here for ticket information.

Former President Donald Trump made his fourth campaign visit to North Carolina in two days, speaking at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Several Republican politicians from North Carolina were there along with former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard.

"You're going to see a lot of me," Trump told the cheering crowd. "We're going to fix it up and make it better than ever. And I'm thrilled to be back in this incredible state."

Several Republican politicians from North Carolina were there along with former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard.

The coliseum was packed Thursday - with the fire marshal having to start turning people away because the building was at capacity in one of Trump's final rallies with just two weeks to go in this election season.

As thousands filed in, people who spoke with ABC11 were full of excitement.

"We came to see Trump because I would not miss it," said Diane Dockeney.

Another man, named Phil, was dressed as Uncle Sam. When asked why he came, he replied: "To see Uncle Don Trump."

A woman named Kristen said she brought her daughter alone to "witness this history."

Dockeney traveled two hours to make it to the rally and arrived 11 hours before the former president spoke to make sure she got in.

"We are here now and so happy," she said. "I'm so excited to see him. I hope I don't start crying when I do see him."

When he finally took the stage, he stayed there for about two hours. Trump talked about the economy, inflation and the border - and his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

He also reflected on the fact that this will be one of his last ever campaign rallies since he first announced he was running for president nearly a decade ago - with just two weeks left of what he says will be his final campaign for the White House.

"We're 14 days from sort of wrapping it up, and we're going to have different kinds of get-togethers," Trump said.

He brought Gabbard out on stage for a few moments.

"To those of you here, those watching at home who are independent-minded people like myself, the Democrat Party has no home for people like us," Gabbard told the crowd.

The former US congresswoman from Hawaii left the Democratic Party in 2022 to become an independent, and on Tuesday night in Greensboro, she announced that she will officially be joining the Republican Party.

"The party that is led by a president who has the courage and the strength to fight for peace," Gabbard said.

As Trump wrapped up his hours-long rally, he urged North Carolinians to get out to the polls.

"Early voting is underway, get your friends, get Alice to get her husband off the couch," Trump said. "And together we will make America great again."