Early Voting Starts: What’s On Your Mecklenburg Ballot, How To Vote, and Why It Matters
By Jack Beckett
What’s on the ballot
Early voting is now open across Mecklenburg County. On ballots: Charlotte mayor, City Council district seats and at-large, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board, and a countywide referendum on a 1 percent sales tax for transportation. The referendum would authorize roughly $19 billion over 30 years for roads and transit if approved. For background on the measure, see our explainers: Charlotte’s 1% Transit Tax: What It Does, What It Costs, Who Runs It, and Where City Council Candidates Stand and The Penny That Could Redraw Mecklenburg. For the board action that put it on the ballot, read Mecklenburg Approves November Vote on 1-Cent Transit Sales Tax Worth $25 Billion.
When and where to vote early
Only the Hal Marshall Annex in Uptown is open at the start of the period. County officials say all 21 early voting sites will open next Thursday, with hours 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. “Today we have our Hal Marshall Annex open uptown,” Mecklenburg elections director Michael Dickerson said. “Next Thursday… all 21 sites will be open from 8 in the morning till 7:30 at night.”
If you need to vote today in, say, Davidson, you can either travel to Hal Marshall or request a mail ballot. “You request today, I have it in the mail to you by late this afternoon,” Dickerson said. For dates, locations, and rules in one place, use our 2025 Charlotte Early Voting Guide.
Same-day registration and address fixes
If you moved or never registered, you can handle both during early voting. “You can walk in… and register and vote at the same time,” Dickerson said. Early voting is also the cleanest way to update your address and make sure you receive the correct ballot for your precinct.
A recent statewide “registration repair” letter went to about 82,000 voters who had missing ID numbers. If you got one, you may be listed as “inactive,” which still allows you to vote. “You’re still registered, but we need to update your information,” Dickerson said. You can confirm your status and polling place on the county website.
Turnout expectations in an off-year
Municipal turnout is historically thin. “Usually in these, you get 17, 18, 19 percent,” Dickerson said, adding that the transportation tax may bump participation. Early voting has changed habits. “The last presidential election, I think it was 80 percent were voting before Election Day,” he said.
Races to watch in Charlotte and the towns
Most Charlotte contests were effectively set in the primary, but District 6 is competitive. WFAE politics reporter Steve Harrison described the South Charlotte seat as closely divided. Citywide, Republicans face long odds in at-large races. Harrison pointed to the math: registered Republicans are “below 20 percent” in Charlotte. For citywide dynamics, see our analysis Why Democrats Routinely Win Charlotte’s At-Large Council Seats — And Republicans Don’t and the candidate field guide 2025 Charlotte City Council At-Large Candidates: Full Field Breakdown. For mayoral context, see The Charlotte Mercury’s Complete 2025 Mayoral Voting Guide.
Outside Charlotte, all six Mecklenburg towns hold nonpartisan elections. Huntersville saw Democrats sweep last cycle. Cornelius has a five-vote mayoral rematch. Matthews will seat at least three new commissioners. We are tracking those contests in our special project Poll Dance 2025.
The transit tax and party lines
Charlotte is partisan. The surrounding towns are not. Party labels do not map neatly onto the referendum. “What’s wacky this time is that it was a Republican bill… and all of the vocal opposition has come from the left,” Harrison said, noting progressive critiques of sales taxes and development incentives. For policy, project lists, and governance, start with our MOVES-Act breakdown: Mecklenburg’s One-Cent Transit Tax: Fine Print and Control.
Voting by mail: the rules that matter
North Carolina’s absentee-by-mail system is strict. You need two witness signatures and a photocopy of your photo ID, or a reasonable-impediment form if you cannot provide a copy. “I think voting by mail is an extremely safe process,” Dickerson said. A bipartisan board reviews each return envelope before acceptance.
Photo ID and access
Photo ID is required at the polls. Voters without ID can complete a reasonable-impediment affidavit and vote. Very few ballots are rejected for ID alone in Mecklenburg, officials said. Political scientist Susan Roberts cautioned that aggressive rhetoric about eligibility can depress turnout, even when voters are qualified.
Security and audits
The machines that count ballots are not connected to the internet. “There is no connectivity… I literally have to… walk a thumb drive,” Dickerson said. North Carolina conducts pre-election logic tests and post-election hand-count audits on randomly selected precincts. Recent recounts matched machine tallies to hand counts with negligible variance. “What you slid into the machine to tally was exactly what you voted for,” Dickerson said.
How to use our guides
If you want a one-page brief by race, start here:
- The Charlotte Mercury’s Complete 2025 Mayoral Voting Guide
- City Council District-by-District Profiles
- At-Large Candidates: Full Field Breakdown
- Charlotte Election 2025: Full List of Candidates
For daily updates, start at CLT Mercury. For the latest desk posts, visit News and Politics.
Key quotes
“Today we have our Hal Marshall Annex open uptown… next Thursday, all 21 sites will be open from 8 in the morning till 7:30 at night.” — Michael Dickerson
“District 6… is very competitive. It is a very evenly divided district… The percent of registered Republicans in this city is now below 20 percent.” — Steve Harrison
“It is easy to make people feel uncomfortable about voting… that has a depressing effect on turnout.” — Susan Roberts
“There is no connectivity… no modems, no Ethernet lines… Results are moved on a brand-new thumb drive.” — Michael Dickerson
What to do now
- Check your registration, address, and early voting site.
- If you received a repair letter, bring your license or last four of your Social.
- If voting by mail, follow the two-witness and ID-copy rules and return promptly.
- If you lack ID, complete the reasonable-impediment form at the site.
- Use our race guides, then vote early to avoid lines.
About the Author
Jack Beckett is a senior writer at The Charlotte Mercury. He files after two coffees and a city agenda, in that order. Read more work on CLT Mercury, catch daily updates in News, and deep dives in Politics. Our special election project, Poll Dance 2025, covers every race worth your time with fewer slogans and more sources. You can always message us on X, or Twitter, or as we call it Twix, at @queencityexp.
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This article, “Early Voting Starts: What’s On Your Mecklenburg Ballot, How To Vote, and Why It Matters,” by Jack Beckett is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0.
“Early Voting Starts: What’s On Your Mecklenburg Ballot, How To Vote, and Why It Matters”
by Jack Beckett, The Charlotte Mercury (CC BY-ND 4.0)