BEFORE YOU VOTE
Mail voting: benefits, drawbacks, and a short checklist
Voting by mail - the trade-off voters weigh
Benefits voters cite
Vote from home, on your own schedule - helpful for work, travel, illness, disability, caregiving, and voters living away from home.
Time to study a long ballot and research measures like these before marking choices.
No line, no trip to a polling place, and tracking through BallotTrax.
Drawbacks voters cite
More steps, and more ways to spoil a ballot: witnesses, signatures, sealed envelopes, ID copy, and a hard 7:30 p.m. Election Day arrival deadline - a postmark is not enough.
No poll worker at hand to catch a mistake, though county boards notify voters of deficiencies they can cure.
Ballots are marked outside a polling place, so voters should mark privately and free of pressure from anyone else.
If you request a mail ballot and change your mind, you may still vote in person if you have not returned it. Once a mail ballot is returned, it cannot be canceled or changed.
Checklist
Confirm your registration and see your exact sample ballot through the NC State Board of Elections voter search.
Decide each amendment separately. FOR and AGAINST are printed beside each one - a vote on one does not affect the others.
If voting by mail: request by 5 p.m. on Oct. 20, mark in front of two witnesses or a notary, sign, include the ID photocopy or exception form, seal as instructed, and return early - by mail, or in person to your county board office or an early voting site in your county (not an Election Day polling place).
Share this guide freely. It is meant to be circulated.
Sources - check the text yourself
Ballot wording and constitutional text: NC State Board of Elections list of 2026 statewide referenda, as reproduced in EdNC, “What to know about the tax amendments on NC ballot in 2026” (Oct. 15, 2026) - https://www.ednc.org/10-15-2026-what-educators-think-about-the-nc-constitutional-amendments-on-the-ballot/ and Peak News Network, “Three Amendments on Your Ballot, Side by Side” (Sept. 29, updated Oct. 4, 2026) - https://data.peaknewsnetwork.org/articles/ballot-amendments-2026/
Bills: Senate Bill 921 (photo ID), Senate Bill 1080 (income tax cap), House Bill 1089 (property tax levy limit), NC General Assembly - www.ncleg.gov
Side-by-side voter guides, supporter and opponent arguments: League of Women Voters of North Carolina, “Three Constitutional Amendments on North Carolina’s 2026 Ballot” - https://my.lwv.org/north-carolina-state/action-alert/three-constitutional-amendments-north-carolinas-2026-ballot
Tax background and legislative history: Ballotpedia News (May 22 and June 1, 2026) - https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/06/01/north-carolina-voters-to-decide-on-two-measures-on-property-and-income-tax-limits-in-november/
Mail-ballot verification: National Conference of State Legislatures, Table 14, How States Verify Voted Absentee/Mail Ballots - https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/table-14-how-states-verify-voted-absentee-mail-ballots ; NC State Board of Elections, Vote by Mail - ncsbe.gov/voting/vote-mail
Modeling note: NC Housing Coalition analysis of a hypothetical 2% levy limit, as reported in fall 2026 coverage. Polling: Elon University poll, September 2026, as reported by EdNC.
About this guide: Prepared October 23, 2026, for private circulation to voters. It summarizes the official ballot language and published arguments from supporters and critics in balanced, neutral terms and offers no recommendation. Election rules can change - confirm deadlines and procedures with the NC State Board of Elections or your county board of elections before voting.