Important Information on What Happens When Polls Close in North Carolina

The polls opened in my beloved home state of North Carolina at 6:30 am Eastern Time Tuesday and will be open until 7:30 pm. Anyone in line at that time can still vote, so if you are, please remain in line until you’ve cast your vote.

Understandably, people on both sides of the aisle get incredibly frustrated on Election Day, especially in a presidential election year, because some states (like Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Nevada, for instance) tend to drag on and on in taking their sweet time processing ballots.

While I’ll leave the debate/discussion to readers as to possible reasons for why that keeps happening, I’m happy to inform you that in the battleground state of North Carolina at least, based on precedent there is a high degree of probability we’ll know who won the presidential race in this state and its 16 electoral votes by the end of the night/early morning hours.

SEE ALSO–>> NC Election Preview: Early Voting Tea Leaves, Trump’s Ground Game, and More

Per the NC Board of Elections website, here’s how the process generally works after the polls close:

The general timeline for results reporting is as follows, but various factors can affect the timing:

• 7:30 p.m.: Polls close.
• 7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.: Counties report to the Election Results Dashboard results of early voting and absentee ballots received before Election Day.
• 7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.: Precinct poll workers hand-deliver Election Day results to county board of elections offices.
• 8:30 p.m. – 1 a.m.: Counties report Election Day precinct results to the Election Results Dashboard. Reporting continues until all Election Day unofficial results are posted.

Also:

*Under state law, the State Board, by a majority vote, may extend voting hours at a polling place if polls are delayed in opening for more than 15 minutes or if voting is interrupted for more than 15 minutes after opening. The State Board may extend the closing time of affected polling places only by an equal number of minutes. (Hours for voting (N.C.G.S. § 163-166.01))

As of this writing, I’ve only heard of one precinct that may need its time extended:

Whatever happens, I’m prepared and ready to go with the Election Day food stash:

As always, stick around for all the updates. And to check results once they start coming in around the country, go here.

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