NC Voting Was Fair, Accurate: Results of Patch Reader Survey

NORTH CAROLINA — Whether voting in-person or by mail, elections in North Carolina were overwhelmingly smooth this year, according to Patch readers across the state.

Among the 159 responses to Patch's survey, nearly 95 percent of voters said they felt the voting process ewas free of hassles and problems.

It was at least one detail about voting this year that most respondents agreed upon.

When it came to issues like the security of mail-in voting and confidence in the final outcomes, there were, shall we say, mixed opinions.

Despite the vigorous national-level complaints alleging widespread voter fraud — allegations, it should be noted, that have not yet produced any solid evidence — the majority of North Carolina voters who responded to the survey said they weren't buying it. Nearly 67 percent of respondents said they had confidence that the 2020 national election was fair and accurate.

Note: The survey was not meant to be a scientific poll, with random sampling and margins of error, but was meant only to gauge the sentiments of our readers in an informal way.

One things for certain, interest in the 2020 general election was at an all-time high in North Carolina, with about 75 percent of all eligible voters casting a ballot, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

According to the survey responses, the vast majority of those polled — 63.3 percent — decided to vote early and in-person. Nearly 22 percent voted by mailing in a ballot, with 8.2 percent choosing to vote on Election Day, and 6.3 percent dropping off their absentee ballot. Only one person said they decided to not vote in the election.

Of those who opted to vote via absentee ballot, Nearly 91 percent took advantage of the online BallotTrax tracking tool offered by NCSBE. Of those voters, 86 percent said they received confirmation by Election Day that their ballot had been received, however 14 percent said they did not.

For those who mailed in their ballots, there was an overall sense of confidence in the system, according to those polled by Patch. Only about 5 percent of those who mailed in their ballots said they felt less confident about voting by mail, while nearly 53 percent said they felt more confident, and about 42 percent said their confidence level was left unchanged.

For every voter who felt voting by mail was full of fraud, there were two who strong felt it was free of fraud, safe and reliable. About 12 percent said they somewhat agreed that voting by mail was safe, reliable and free of fraud, while 7.6 percent said they somewhat disagreed with that statement. Only about 6 percent of respondents did not have an opinion.

The majority of those polls also said they felt that voting by mail should be made easier in the future, with nearly 52 percent saying they strongly agreed and 6.4 percent saying they somewhat agreed. About 19 percent, however, took a more hardline approach and said they strongly disagreed.

More than 61 percent said they strongly agreed that the 2020 elections in North Carolina were fair and accurate, followed by nearly 9 percent, who said they somewhat agreed. Conversely, about 15 percent of those who took the survey said they strongly disagreed, and about 6 percent said they somewhat disagreed, indicating they did not think state elections were fair and accurate.

On the national level, confidence was slightly less. When asked if the 2020 national elections were fair and accurate, nearly 58 percent said they strongly agreed and nearly 9 percent said they somewhat agreed, while about 23 percent said they strongly disagreed and 5 percent said they somewhat disagreed. Nearly 6 percent said they neither agreed nor disagreed.

Here's what some Patch readers in North Carolina had to say about voting in the 2020 General Election:

• "Voting was so easy, voted early on day 2, 27 minutes from line to out the door. Everything was so organized, clean, and an example of our country’s voting practice. If there is a recount, I think the requesting party should pay for it."
• "Really missed getting an I Voted sticker!"
• "The 2020 election was fair."
• "I can't believe I did not have to show my ID - that is ridiculous!"
• "We can file our taxes securely and electronically, how come we can't vote that way."
• "I believe voting ought to be mandatory and the popular vote the election vehicle. Period."
• "Very well organized. Almost no lines, and everyone was pleasant and helpful."
• "Some people I voted for won. Some lost. I do trust the results, even if I don't like some of them."
• "I mailed our absentee ballots, and the US Postal Service delivered both of them back to us with the postage stamp cancelled out instead of delivering them to the Iredell Board of Elections. Therefore, I hand delivered the ballots to the early polling station."
• "I voted in person on Election Day because I didn’t trust the absentee ballots.
• "With such a historical voter turnout, I do hope that the states will update their voter mail in process and have the same requirements and deadlines for postmarking for all states. The states need to be uniformed and the Election Boards need to update their processes as well as educate the public to the voting process including how ballots are counted. Our democracy is too important to and has to be improved."
• "Our early voting experience in Mooresville was just as smooth as in any other year…. People claiming vote fraud need to remember that these are their friends and neighbors staffing the polling places. It is a pretty straightforward process to confirm voter registration and there is no 'them' at the polling places conspiring to put their candidate of choice in."