State Launches Absentee Ballot Tracking Service

North Carolina has launched a new online tool that allows voters to track the status of their absentee ballots. 

The State Board of Elections is directing people to a service called BallotTrax, which is available through their website.

After creating an account, voters can confirm that their county has received their ballot request and subsequently completed absentee ballot. 

Voters can also learn if their ballot wasn't accepted because of issues such as a missing signature or witness information. Details will be provided on how to correct the problem.

By-mail voters who want to track their ballot can also use the State Board's Voter Search Tool, which shows when the ballot has been accepted, or they can contact their county's board of elections directly.

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein this weekend sent out a tweet encouraging absentee voters to use these services and to ignore a tweet from President Trump that suggested showing up at polling places even if they've already sent in their ballot.

In his tweet, Stein reminded people that voting twice is illegal and that a followup visit to a polling place could unnecessarily put more people at risk of exposure to COVID-19.