Voters planning to vote by mail for the Nov. 5, 2024, election need to mail their ballots now.

The North Carolina Board of Elections recommends voters allow a week for mail delivery, and Tuesday, Oct. 29, is the one-week mark. There is no longer a grace period for mailed ballots that arrive after Election Day.

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With a photo ID law now in effect, the mail-in ballot process is a little more complicated in 2024. If you haven't yet filled in your mail-in ballot, here's what you need to know.

The biggest change in 2024 is the ask that voters place a photocopy of an eligible photo ID in their ballot envelope. People unable to provide a copy of their photo ID can fill out and include a Photo ID Exception form with their ballot.

Wake County elections board member Gerry Cohen said one voter sent in their actual drivers license, and others have sent in partial or blurry photocopies. Even if you can’t make a copy of your ID, Cohen said you can still cast your ballot.

"There's a form to use, an exception form, like if you don't have access to a photocopy, or if you're in assisted living and can't get out, or your printer's out of ink," Cohen said.

What is inside the absentee voting packet is also different this year, and many voters have become confused about what goes where.

When voters receive their requested absentee ballot, it should come with the ballot and voting instructions. Be sure to read them.

"About 4% of the people voting absentee have not followed the instructions, so we have to reach out to them by email or phone call and let them know what they need to do, send them a form to sign," Cohen said.

Once you’ve filled out your ballot, you’ll put the photocopy of your ID into the clear sleeve on the front of the envelope. Don’t forget to sign the back of the envelope and have two witnesses or a notary sign it.

Be sure to include correct postage on your ballot return envelope, which is $1.77, or the equivalent of three Forever stamps (73 cents apiece).

Your ballot must be received by your county board of elections by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. State law previously provided for a grace period if your ballot was postmarked on or before Election Day and received within three days after the election, but that is no longer the case.

If you don't have three stamps or you're worried it's too late to mail your ballot, you can drop off your mail-in ballot at any early voting site in your county.

WRAL News has a guide to absentee voting:

Register to vote

First, you have to be registered to vote. You can make sure you’re registered by running your name through the state’s voter search tool.

If you’re not registered you can do so online, in person at a DMV office or by mail. The deadline for registration to vote in the Nov. 5 election is Oct. 11, so if you’re not registered by then and want to vote you’ll need to do so in person. North Carolina has same-day registration, but only at early voting sites in the lead up to election day.

If you’re registered and want to vote by mail, fill out an absentee ballot request form. This is just what it sounds like. You’re requesting a ballot. This form is not the ballot itself.

Request a mail-in (absentee) ballot

You can fill out the form online. You can also print one out, in English or Spanish, and mail it in.

Sometimes groups mail blank forms out en masse to voters. If you choose to fill that form out, you are simply requesting a ballot to vote by mail.

If you plan to vote by mail, the deadline to request a ballot is 5 p.m. the Tuesday before Election Day.

Fill out your ballot and have it witnessed

On the form, you’ll need to provide either your North Carolina’s drivers license number or the last four digits of your Social Security number. If you mail it in, as opposed to going through the online portal, send it to your county board of elections. Addresses are provided at the end of the form. Ballot request forms should not be faxed or emailed.

Only voters themselves, or a near relative, should request a ballot or handle the ballot itself. If anyone other than a near relative helps someone who's blind or disabled fill out the form, that person’s name and address must be listed on the request form.

Your ballot will come in the mail. You fill it out like a normal ballot, but you need to have witnesses: Either a notary public or two witnesses must be with you when you mark the ballot. (Because of the pandemic, during the 2020 elections only one witness was required.)

A lot of other states use signature verification. They match the signature on the ballot to the one on file with an individual's voter registration. But signatures can change over time, and "matching" can be subjective. So North Carolina requires the witnesses or notary to verify that it's really you casting your ballot.

Witnesses should verify that you marked the ballot yourself, but they should not see how you voted.

Return your mail-in (absentee) ballot by election day

Use the included envelope to return your ballot. Include a copy of your photo ID in the envelope. Affix the correct postage – $1.77 or three "forever" stamps.

Your ballot must be received by your county board of elections by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.

You can also return the ballot in person, either at your county board of elections or at an early voting site.

Mailed ballots stored securely, not counted until election day

When a mail-in ballot arrives at the county board of elections, it's checked in by county workers. They first look at the outside envelope to make sure there are no problems with it.

Then each mailed-in ballot is stored in a high-security area. In the weeks before the election, the bipartisan county elections board inspects batches of unopened ballots and, if they're completed correctly, directs staff to open them and put the ballots into the counting machine. However, they don't calculate the results of mail-in votes until the polls open on election day, so they don't know who's ahead. The ballots are then returned to secure storage for nearly two years before they're destroyed.

You can change your mind and vote in person. But you can't vote twice.

If you request a mail-in ballot but decide to vote in person instead, simply destroy your mail-in ballot and vote in person.