Election Images1Cherokee County

Board of Elections

Members 

  • Sandy Solesbee, Chairman
  • Charles Hoesch, Board Member
  • Shelly Debty, Board Member
  • William Bateman, Board Member
  • Lance Bristol, Board Member

The Board of Elections now consists of five members. Two Democrats and Three Republicans each elected to a two year term.

Objective

The goal of the Cherokee County Board of Elections is to provide lawful, efficient, and timely execution of all elections. Our objective is to strive toward a progressive election process that meets every measure of the law as well as the demands of the 21st Century. We aim to provide fair elections for the Federal Government, the State of North Carolina, and Cherokee County. For more information on local and State Elections please visit the North Carolina State Board of Elections website. http://www.ncsbe.gov/

The Board of Elections holds their regular monthly meeting on the first Wednesday of every month at 4:30. The location is 40 Peachtree St. Murphy, NC 28906. All meetings are open to the public. If you would like to be put on the agenda for a meeting please contact the Board of Elections office at 828-837-6670. 

 




PRESS RELEASE

Friday, October 30, 2026



ncsbe.comms@ncsbe.gov

Jason Tyson, (984) 289-9542








10 Tips for Election Day Voters: 2026 General Election






Raleigh, N.C. — Election Day for the 2026 midterm elections is Tuesday, Nov. 3. The State Board of Elections offers the following tips for voters heading to the polls that day:

  1. Go to your assigned polling place on Election Day. Across North Carolina, more than 2,600 polling places will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Voters in line at 7:30 p.m. will be able to cast a ballot. To find your polling place, use the Voter Search tool on the State Board website.
  2. Find your sample ballot. Voters can use the State Board’s Voter Search tool to locate their sample ballot. Pull up your voter record, then scroll down to the “Your Sample Ballot” section. See Judicial Voter Guide: 2026 General Election for information on candidates for the state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.
  3. Bring your photo ID. Voters will be asked to show photo ID at their polling place when they check in to vote. Most voters will show their driver’s license, but many other photo IDs are acceptable. For more information, including the full list of acceptable IDs, visit BringItNC.gov. If you have a photo ID but did not bring it, you can either get your ID and return to the voting site to vote a regular ballot or vote a provisional ballot and bring an acceptable ID to your county elections office by noon on Tuesday, Nov. 10.If you cannot show a photo ID when voting for some reason, you may cast a provisional ballot and fill out a Photo ID Exception Form to explain why.
  4. Voter registration is not permitted on Election Day. While that is the general rule, voters who become eligible after the regular voter registration deadline (Oct. 9), either due to becoming a U.S. citizen or having their rights restored following a felony conviction, are permitted to register on Election Day.
  5. If you still plan to cast an absentee ballot, act fast. The deadline for your county board of elections to receive your ballot is 7:30 p.m. Nov. 3. If you are unsure that the postal service or another delivery service will deliver your ballot by Tuesday, you can drop it off at your county board of elections during business hours, or at an early voting site in your county through 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, when early voting ends. You can also drop it off at your county board office until 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. Or you can discard your absentee ballot and vote in person during the final days of early voting or on Election Day instead.
  6. Provisional voting. If you show up to vote and your name is not on the voter list, you may request a provisional ballot. About 10 days after an election, voters who cast a provisional ballot can check the status of their ballot with the Provisional Search tool. Read more about Provisional Voting.
  7. Voter assistance. Voters in need of help may bring an eligible person to help them enter and exit the polling place or complete their ballot. Election officials are also available to help voters. Curbside voting is available for voters if they are unable to enter the voting site without assistance due to age or physical disability. For more information, visit Curbside Voting.
  8. No ballot photos. North Carolina law prohibits photographing or taking videos of voted ballots. Voters may use electronic devices, such as smartphones, in the voting booth to access candidate information. However, they may not use the devices to communicate with anyone or take photographs or videos of their ballot.
  9. State and federal laws forbid intimidation or interference with voters. This includes hindering access to the voting place, whether inside or outside the voting site. It is also a crime to interfere with election officials carrying out their duties. Penalties for violations include prison time, fines, or both. The State Board takes these incidents very seriously. When they occur, election officials will work with law enforcement partners to respond. Voters who are harassed or intimidated should notify an election official immediately.
  10. Unofficial election results will be posted on the State Board’s website. See the Election Results Dashboard. See the Election Night Reporting Timeline for information on when to expect unofficial results on election night.

For more information about voting on Election Day, see Vote in Person on Election Day




Mark Your Calendar

FRIDAY OCTOBER 9 - VOTER REGISTRATION DEADLINE

TUESDAY OCTOBER 13 - ABSENTEE BOARD MEETING #3 @ 5:00 pm

THURSDAY OCTOBER 15 - EARLY VOTING BEGINS

TUESDAY OCTOBER 20 - LAST DAY TO REQUEST ABSENTEE BY MAIL

TUESDAY OCTOBER 20 - ABSENTEE BOARD MEETING #4 @ 5:00 pm

TUESDAY OCTOBER 27 - ABSENTEE BOARD MEETING #5 @ 5:00 pm

SATURDAY OCTOBER 31 - EARLY VOTING ENDS AT 3:00 

MONDAY NOVEMBER 2 - PRE-ELECTION ABSENTEE MEETING @ 5:00

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 3 - STATEWIDE GENERAL ELECTION

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 3 - ABSENTEE MEETING @ 2:00

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 4 - PROVISIONAL MEETING @ 5:00

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 5 - SAMPLE COUNT @ 10:00 AM

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 11 - VETERANS DAY HOLIDAY


EARLY VOTING DATES AND TIMES

 

THURSDAY OCTOBER 15, 2026 (8:00 AM – 7:30 PM)

FRIDAY OCTOBER 16, 2026 (8:00 AM – 7:30 PM)

MONDAY OCTOBER 19, 2026 (8:00 AM – 7:30 PM)

TUESDAY OCTOBER 20, 2026 (8:00 AM – 7:30 PM)

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 21, 2026 (8:00 AM – 7:30 PM)

THURSDAY OCTOBER 22, 2026 (8:00 AM – 7:30 PM)

FRIDAY OCTOBER 23, 2026 (8:00 AM – 7:30 PM)

MONDAY OCTOBER 26, 2026 (8:00 AM – 7:30 PM)

TUESDAY OCTOBER 27, 2026 (8:00 AM – 7:30 PM)

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 28, 2026 (8:00 AM – 7:30 PM)

THURSDAY OCTOBER 29, 2026 (8:00 AM – 7:30 PM)

FRIDAY OCTOBER 30, 2026 (8:00 AM – 7:30 PM)

SATURDAY OCTOBER 31, 2026 (8:00 AM – 3:00 PM)


EARLY VOTING TAKES PLACE AT THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS OFFCE. 40 PEACHTREE STREET MURPHY NC


FACT: IN NORTH CAROLINA, IF AN ELECTION WORKER WRITES ON YOUR BALLOT, IT DOES NOT INVALIDATE IT

Raleigh, N.C.

The following is a statement from the State Board of Elections regarding social media posts and other communications suggesting that if an election worker writes on your ballot, it would invalidate it.

In North Carolina, this is false. These posts have been circulating for years and have resurfaced recently in many N.C. counties. They are still false.

Election workers often do write on ballots for different reasons as required by law.

For example, election workers write an identifying number on the ballots of voters who vote by mail or during the in-person early voting period. This is a special number assigned to each ballot and voter. This number allows the ballot to be retrieved and not counted if necessary due to a voter challenge, such as if the voter dies before Election Day or votes more than once. See Retrievable ballots (N.C.G.S. § 163-166.45).

The number can also be used to retrieve ballots in the event of a successful election protest, such as if several voters are given the wrong ballot style and the margin for a contest is less than that number of voters.

In certain counties, voters’ precincts also must be written on ballots cast during the early voting period so they can be sorted back into the proper precincts after the election for reporting and data purposes, also as required by law. See Voting data maintained by precinct (N.C.G.S. § 163-132.5G). Early voters may cast their ballot at any early voting site in their county, thus creating the need to sort ballots by precinct after each election.

Election Day ballots are not retrievable, but poll workers may need to write the precinct name on ballots for post-election sorting. They may also write notations on provisional ballots. 

Poll workers should generally not be placing any other markings on the ballot. But stray marks on a ballot should not prevent the ballot from being tabulated, as long as the bars on the margin of the ballot and the selection ovals are not affected. Once the ballot goes into the tabulator, the machine uses the bars and the shading of ovals to determine the selections on that ballot, and that ballot will be tabulated just like any other ballot that gets inserted into the tabulator, regardless of any writing in the white space of the ballot.

For accurate information about N.C. elections, go to ncsbe.gov or contact your county board of elections.



 


 


 





 

 

 

ELECTION RESULTS