Voting Advocacy - North Carolina

Voting Technology

As a result of a ballot design problem in North Carolina, votes for president may have been lost in the early voting period. 

The ballot is designed, counter-intuitively, so that a straight-party vote does not include a vote for president; voters must separately mark their presidential contest choice.  In previous federal elections, between 2.5% and 3.2% of ballots in North Carolina did not include a vote for president.  A Brennan Center study found that if more than 1% of voters fail to cast a vote for president, it is typically an indication of a ballot design flaw or other problem.

For more information on the Brennan Center's study, Better Ballots, click here.