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Reminder: Election Day is Tomorrow; Polls will be Open from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.

By Harley Nefe

The last chance for registered voters to vote in the 2020 Election is on Election Day, which is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m.

Watauga County residents who receive an absentee ballot by mail may return their ballot, enclosed in the container return envelope, in person to the Board of Elections office located in the Watauga County Courthouse at 842 West King Street in Boone by 5 p.m. on Election Day.

Voters may not drop their absentee ballots off at a polling place on Election Day. 

County boards of elections in North Carolina will also accept mail-in ballots received by Nov. 12, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Oct. 28 to uphold this deadline.

An absentee ballot is timely if it is received by the county board by 5 p.m. on Election Day, or is postmarked on or before Election Day and received by 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12.

A ballot will be considered postmarked by Election Day if it has a postmark or if there is information in BallotTrax, or another tracking service offered by the U.S. Postal Service or a commercial carrier, indicating that the ballot was in the custody of the Postal Service or the commercial carrier on or before Election Day.

Due to COVID-19, many new voting sites are in use this election. Voters must vote at their designated precinct polling place. If voters are unsure of their polling location, they may go to https://vt.ncsbe.gov/PPLkup/.

Weapons (open or concealed) are not allowed at polling locations where there is a school, (University, Community College, Elementary, High School, or an associated educational satellite location), or a church that has daycare on site.

Please see the list of the 20 Watauga County Election Day polling sites below:

Bald Mountain, Green Valley School Gym (FORMERLY TODD FIRE DEPARTMENT)

Beaver Dam, Bethel School Gym (FORMERLY BEAVER DAM FIRE DEPARTMENT)

Blowing Rock, Blowing Rock School Gym (FORMERLY BLOWING ROCK TOWN HALL)

Blue Ridge, Watauga High School Gym (FORMERLY LAUREL FORK BAPTIST CHURCH)

Boone 1, Hardin Park School Gym (FORMERLY COUNTY ADMINISTRATION BUILDING)

Boone 2, ASU Plemmons Student Union – Blue Ridge Ballroom

Brushy Fork, Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute, BLDG 460 (FORMERLY OAK GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH)

Cove Creek, Cove Creek School Gym (FORMERLY ZIONVILLE FIRE DEPARTMENT STATION 2)

Elk, Stewart Simmons Fire Department

Laurel Creek, Bethel School Gym (FORMERLY COVE CREEK FIRE DEPARTMENT)

Meat Camp, Green Valley School Gym (FORMERLY MEAT CAMP FIRE DEPARTMENT)

Boone 3, Agricultural Conference Center

New River 1, Watauga High School Gym (FORMERLY BOONE TOWN CHAMBERS)

New River 2, Hardin Park School Gym click (FORMERLY THREE FORKS BAPTIST ASSOCIATION)

New River 3, National Guard Armory

North Fork, Green Valley School Gym (FORMERLY EDGAR ELLER’S GARAGE)

Shawneehaw, Valle Crucis School Gym (FORMERLY MATNEY COMMUNITY CENTER)

Stony Fork, Deep Gap Fire Department

Watauga, Valle Crucis School Gym (FORMERLY FOSCOE FIRE DEPARTMENT)

Beech Mountain, Buckeye Recreation Center.