North Carolina State Board of Elections
North Carolina's independent five-member state agency running elections and campaign-finance disclosure.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections said on 25 September 2026 that a search of the federal SAVE database had found over 35,000 dead people still on its voter rolls, while giving no count of non-citizens.
Last refreshed: 1 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Timeline for North Carolina State Board of Elections
Published a SAVE search result
US Midterms 2026: North Carolina's rolls held 35,000 deadNorth Carolina posts the first ballots
US Midterms 2026Background
The North Carolina State Board of Elections is the independent state agency that runs elections and oversees campaign-finance disclosure and compliance. It has five members and is led day to day by an executive director, currently Sam Hayes. It supervises the 100 county boards of elections that handle registration, ballots and counting.
North Carolina is a perennial battleground in presidential and Senate contests, so the board's decisions on rolls and ballots draw national attention and frequent litigation. In 2026 it was the first state to mail general-election ballots and in September it published a deceased-registrant count from the federal SAVE database.
The board sits where state election administration meets federal voter-roll policy. How it uses federal citizenship and death data, and how it removes names within federal timing limits, sets a working example for other states facing the same tools.
The SAVE search surfaced dead registrants
On 25 September 2026 the board's executive director, Sam Hayes, said a recent search of the federal government's expanded citizenship-check database had found over 35,000 deceased registrants on North Carolina's rolls. The figure came from the system after the Department of Homeland Security expanded it to search Social Security records.
The 25 September release gave no count of non-citizens and did not say that any of the dead had voted. He also said nobody would be removed automatically. With the 3 November election inside the federal 90-day window that bars systematic roll cleaning, any removals of those 35,000 names have to be handled one record at a time.
North Carolina mailed the cycle's first ballots
The board's county offices began sending requested absentee ballots on 4 September 2026, the earliest date state law permits. That made North Carolina the first state to put general-election ballots in the post for the 2026 midterms.
The early start means the board's procedures face scrutiny first. Any dispute over ballot design, eligibility or deadlines surfaces there weeks before most states have mailed anything, so the board's handling of absentee voting sets an early marker for the rest of the country.
When did North Carolina start mailing absentee ballots for the 2026 midterms?
How many members are on the North Carolina State Board of Elections?
What does the North Carolina State Board of Elections do?
How many dead voters did North Carolina find on its voter rolls?
Who is the executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections?
