Absentee Voting

Beginning the second Thursday before an election a voter can vote in person at an early voting location. These locations may vary for each election. Please call 250-4200 for details about the early voting location nearest you.

Any qualified voter of Buncombe County may vote by absentee ballot in any primary or election conducted by the County Board of Elections (BOE). The Voter may receive a request form provided by the State BOE. Please either call 250-4200 or use the request an Absentee Ballot form page of our website.

Absentee ballot requests will be accepted by the Board of Elections office located at 77 McDowell Street, Asheville NC 28801 until 5:00 p.m. on the Tuesday before the election. After that time, the Board of Elections office will only accept those requests received from a voter or a near relative who represents that a voter is sick or is in some way incapacitated and cannot appear in person on Election Day to vote.

For a Specific Election within the year

Download the State Absentee Ballot Request Form for stating your desire to receive a ballot for a specific election within the year to:

Board of Elections
P.O. Box 7468
Asheville, NC 28802

Be sure to include your name, address, phone number, date of birth and the address where the ballot should be mailed if different from your residential address and signature. The written request must be signed by the voter in order to receive a ballot.

Annual (Yearly) Request by Person with Sickness or Physical Disability

If a voter wishes to request absentee ballots for the remainder of the calendar year, the voter must make the request on the absentee application (the absentee ballot envelope). This can be found under the section of the absentee ballot envelope titled "Annual Request for Sickness/Physical Disability only" and is only a valid option for those voters who have a sickness or disability and expect it to last the remainder of the calendar year. If this section of the absentee ballot envelope is completed and signed by the voter, the voter will automatically receive an absentee ballot for all elections in which the voter is eligible to participate during the calendar year in which the request is received. (G.S. 163-226 (a2))

You can request an absentee ballot for a voter if you are the voter's near relative (i.e. spouse, brother, sister, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, mother-in-law, father-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, stepparent, stepchild, or verifiable legal guardian). Note: No one with Power of Attorney is allowed to request an absentee ballot for a voter unless he or she is the voter's near relative or verifiable guardian.

After 5:00 p.m. on the Tuesday before the election and not later than 5:00 p.m. on the day before the election, if a voter is unable to appear in person on Election Day and vote due to that voter's illness or other physical disability, then the voter, a legal guardian, or a near relative may come in person to the Board of Elections office located at 77 McDowell Street, Asheville NC 28801 and make application to request an absentee ballot for the voter. A near relative is a spouse, brother, sister, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, mother-in-law, father-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, stepparent, or stepchild.

Please either call 250-4200 or use the use the request an Absentee Ballot form page.

For information on voting overseas or military, please go to the following link on the Federal Voting Assistance Program website.

http://www.fvap.gov

You will need to print, sign and transmit these forms to either the State or Buncombe County Board of Elections.