Frequently Asked Questions

There are several ways to cancel your own Forsyth County registration:
  • When you register to vote in a new county or state, you can complete the "Previous Voter Registration" section of the registration form. That county or state will notify Forsyth County that you have moved, and we will then cancel your Forsyth County registration.
  • Complete the back of your voter card with the new address and county information and send the voter card to the Forsyth County Board of Elections.
  • Click here to access a cancellation form to remove yourself from our voter registration records.
You may register with any political party recognized in the State of North Carolina. Party affiliation determines the primary in which a voter is eligible to vote. You may also register as unaffiliated. If you do not declare a party, you will be registered as unaffiliated. During a partisan primary election, an unaffiliated voter may vote only if a party authorizes unaffiliated voters to vote in their primary. If all parties authorize unaffiliated voters to vote, the voter must choose which party ballot they wishes to vote on the day of the Primary.
If mailed, the registration form must be postmarked at least 25 days prior to the election. If hand-delivered, the registration form must be received at the Board of Elections office no later than 5:00 pm on the 25th day prior to the election.
The polls are open from 6:30 am until 7:30 pm on Election Day.
When you register to vote or make an address change or information change, or if the Board of Elections assigns you to a new precinct or polling place, the Board of Elections sends you a new voter card. Your voting place (polling place) is printed on the card. You are assigned a polling place based on the precinct where you live. You may also search the website voter search utility to determine your registration status and voting location. The voter information is updated daily. If you don't know where to vote, check your registration for the information. If you have moved from the residence address that we have on file, don't wait until Election Day to change your address. You may experience a delay in voting if your residence address is not up to date or if we have sent mail to your voter registration address that was returned to us by the Postal Service.
No. You must vote at the polling place for your precinct on Election Day. The precinct officials there will look for your name on a list of all of the voters in the precinct.
If you are not sure of the status of your voter registration, call the Board of Elections office at 703-2800 and someone will verify your registration status. You may also search the website website voter search utility to determine your registration status and voting location. The voter information there is updated daily.
If a registered voter in Forsyth County has moved within Forsyth County more than thirty days prior to an election and failed to notify the Board of Elections, it is a violation of the law to vote in his/her old precinct. The voter may still vote on Election Day. Call the Board of Elections for further information. Don’t wait until the last minute or miss the deadline. Print the Voter Registration Application Form and mail it to us.
If the voter wishes to vote on Election Day, the voter will be allowed to vote outside the polling place. This procedure is called “curbside voting”.
All registered voters in Forsyth County may request an absentee ballot by mail or may vote absentee in person (one-stop voting). Listing an excuse is no longer required. For more detailed information, read about Absentee Voting.
North Carolina law now allows No Excuse Absentee Voting for all elections. You may submit a written request to have a ballot mailed to you or vote at designated locations. Read more about Absentee Voting.
In North Carolina, county boards of elections follow a comprehensive list maintenance schedule, pursuant to N.C.G.S 163-82.14, to remove names of individuals who are no longer eligible to be registered due to death, felony conviction, removal from the county, or lack of voter contact.
Pursuant to N.C.G.S. 163-82.14(b), the only time a person is authorized to cancel the registration of another person is when the voter is a near relative cancelling the registration of a deceased family member. If your deceased relative is still registered to vote in Forsyth County, click here to access the Notice of Deceased Voter form to remove your relative from our voter registration records.

A near relative is defined as a spouse, brother, sister, parent, grandparent, child, mother-in-law, father-in-law, daughter-in-law, son-in-law, stepparent, stepchild, or as a verifiable legal guardian.
Please write on the mailing: "NOT AT THIS ADDRESS." draw a line through the barcode under the address and place back in your mailbox. No postage is necessary. In order for us to remove the voter from your address, we need their signature OR two (2) pieces of returned mail. Thank you for helping us keep the registration rolls accurate.
Many voting advocacy groups regularly send out packages of registration information, often including real registration forms. This is helpful in increasing participation in the voting process, but can be confusing to those not familiar with registration administrative details.

If you receive mail from the Forsyth County Board of Elections, it will be a 5.5 x 3.75in card and will have been mailed from 201 N. Chestnut Street, Winston-Salem or an official letter from the Director of Elections regarding a polling place change or other administrative matter.

The Forsyth County Board of Elections provides voter registration forms, but does not actively send them out en masse by mail. This is done by non-profit voter advocacy groups. Please take the following advice if you receive one of these mailings:
  • If you are already registered and receive a registration form from an advocacy group, you do not have to respond or re-register. If information is required of you by us, it will be requested in the form of one of the aforementioned card, or you will be contacted directly about it by phone.
  • If you are not registered, feel free to fill out the registration form that was sent to you and send it back to us or bring it to our office. The forms that these groups send are not fake, they are real blank registration forms, which we make available to those who wish to distribute them as part of campaigns to increase voter registration. The current form looks like this but may also be the Federal version, which looks different, or (less likely) older versions of the two. If you are skeptical of how a form looks, contact us with the office information at the bottom of the page.
  • If you are unsure if you are registered or not, visit the State Board of Elections’ Voter Search Tool and enter your information. If you are present in the system you will show up in the search tool (be sure to check the box next to ‘Registered’ not ‘Removed or Denied’).
  • If you discover that any information in these mailings contradicts what you have been told by our office or the State Board of Elections office, or have any questions about the mailing, its origin, or any of the information in it call or email us at (336) 703-2800 or fcvotes@forsyth.cc.
See the following FAQ document.
You have the right to:
  • Vote privately and independently.
  • Have an accessible polling place with voting machines for voters with disabilities.
  • Change or correct your ballot before it is cast.
  • Be provided a provisional ballot if you believe you are in the correct polling place during federal elections.
Additionally, you may:
  • Seek assistance from either workers at your polling place, or you may bring someone of your choice to hep you cast a ballot (except for your employer or an agent of your union).
  • Request that your local election officials to tell you about any accessible equipment, aids, or procedures that are available to help you vote.
Election administrators take many steps to ensure that voters only cast one ballot in an election. Voters have to be eligible to receive a ballot. Election officials keep detailed records of who has already voted, and who has already requested and received a ballot in the mail. These steps make it difficult for someone to cheat, so voting twice is both easy to catch and extremely rare. Additionally, most state laws make this type of illegal activity a felony that is punishable by time in jail, large fines, or both.
If you request an absentee-by-mail ballot and choose not to vote the ballot, you may still vote in person at an early voting site or on Election Day.

If you vote in person, you should discard your absentee ballot. As soon as you vote, your absentee ballot will not be counted, even if returned. It is against the law to vote twice in any election.
Absentee and early voting ballots are not counted if the voter passes away by Election Day and if: (1) the county board of elections receives a death certificate or Notification of Deceased Voter form from the voter's near relative by 5:00pm on the ninth day after election day or (2) the board of elections identifies the deceased voter in their daily check of the reports received from the NC Department of Health and Human Services
You are not required to vote for everything on your ballot, which is also referred as undervoting. A ballot will not be canceled as a result of an undervote.
You have the right to receive assistance in voting regardless of disability or reasoning. Unless due to a disability, only near relatives may assist a voter. A voter’s employer, union representative, or agent of both are not allowed to assist a voter. Make sure to inform the election officials that you need assistance and confirm the person who is assisting you.
Primaries are elections used by political parties to nominate candidates for a general election. Once each party has selected candidates in the primary elections, they will then run against each other within the general election. Voters registered with a political party can only vote in that specific party's primary election while Unaffiliated voters have the option to choose which party’s primary they want to participate in to vote.
Learn more about the voter ID requirement in North Carolina.
  • In-person: If you're at a polling place and realize you've made a mistake on your paper ballot, inform a precinct official immediately. They will "spoil" the mis-marked ballot and provide you with a new, blank one to mark again. You're only permitted to spoil up to three ballots.
  • Voting by mail/absentee ballot: If you make a mistake on a mail-in ballot you haven't yet returned, contact the Board of Elections and request a new ballot. Do not return the incorrect ballot, as it will not be counted and could cause confusion. They will send you a replacement. If you've already sent in a ballot with errors (like missing a signature or witness details), you may have an opportunity to "cure" the mistake by returning a certification to the county board of elections by a certain deadline. The county board is required to notify you if there's a deficiency with your mail-in ballot and how to correct it.
  • Absentee By-Mail Voting allows any registered voter in the county to request and receive a ballot through the mail, without needing a specific reason or excuse.
  • Early Voting allows registered voters to go in person to their county board of elections office or any early voting sites to cast a ballot. Early voting is conducted starting on the third Thursday before the election and ending at 3:00 pm on the last Saturday before the election. A reason for voting early is not required. Voters may update their name or address within the same county if necessary. Individuals who are not registered to vote in the county may register and vote at that same time, which is also known as same-day registration. These voters will be required to provide an acceptable proof of residence document or identification that includes the voter’s name and current address.
  • On Election Day, registered voters must vote at their assigned polling place. The polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Any voter in line at their assigned polling place by 7:30 will be able to vote.
Provisional voting is a fail‐safe method of voting that will permit a voter to cast a ballot during an election when they’re unable to present photo ID or questions arise regarding their voter registration or eligibility. This allows the Board of Elections to verify the voter’s eligibility after Election Day. If it can be confirmed that the voter is eligible to vote in the election, the provisional ballot will be counted before the results of the election are certified.

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