On the Record | Voting underway in NC as officials make last-minute changes

Voting is underway in North Carolina, as the 2026 midterm elections started here Friday. North Carolina is the first state in the country to begin voting, although most voters are still unlikely to cast their ballots for another month or more.

The online portal that overseas and military voters can use opened at midnight. And as the day went on, officials in all 100 counties also began mailing out ballots to people stateside who have already requested to vote by mail.

As that was all happening, the State Board of Elections also met Friday morning to approve some last-minute changes to the rules for mail-in voting. For the most part, the new changes will require a stricter interpretation of state law, making it more likely that people’s ballots will be thrown out over technicalities that state officials previously let slide.

WRAL's Louis Fernandez and Will Doran sat down and spoke through where voting by mail stands for this year's midterm elections both locally and nationally on this week's On the Record.

The WRAL Daily Download is an in-depth conversation about a single news story. WRAL covers news across North Carolina every day, but this podcast focuses on one story at a time, bringing context to each conversation. The in-depth, localized podcast takes you into the latest stories from Raleigh, Durham, and the entire Triangle region on North Carolina. This is community news aimed at keeping you informed about the more subtle stories that are happening around you. Hosted by WRAL News journalists, episodes post weekdays by 4:30am.