Friday’s 3-2 party-line vote approved two memos that let counties reject or spoil some absentee ballots over unsealed envelopes and unauthorized ballot returns just as North Carolina began mailing ballots.
The new guidance says ballots returned by anyone other than certain relatives or guardians must be spoiled and reissued, while envelopes with seal problems that previously might have counted can now be rejected.
Republican members called the memos procedural direction needed immediately for county officials, but Democratic members said the board was adding new restrictions before legislative review of the underlying proposal is complete.
Voting-rights groups and Gov. Josh Stein said the changes create new technical reasons to discard mail ballots, warning of voter confusion and urging people to vote early if possible.
The dispute lands amid a separate federal fight over mail voting after a judge blocked a Trump order tied to Postal Service restrictions, leaving advocates stressing that no federal rules have changed for now.