Board of Elections Absentee Meeting | Nov. 2, 2026 (Afternoon)

The Buncombe County Board of Elections held an afternoon absentee meeting on November 2, 2026, ahead of Election Day. The board approved the agenda and prior meeting minutes, received election-readiness updates, and heard that preliminary early-voting turnout was 96,838. Staff reviewed absentee ballots, including 1,021 ballots in the meeting’s reported totals: 885 civilian, 19 military, and 117 overseas. The board voted to support staff’s recommendation to disapprove 34 deficient ballots, which had been reissued, and approved the ballots counted for the meeting. Staff also reported ballot duplication and curing work and completed the required reports and ballot-storage procedures.

Board members discussed a ballot envelope damaged during mail processing and whether to share information about such incidents with the U.S. Postal Service; staff said the county could provide a report. A board member requested data by the canvass on ballots rejected for unsealed envelopes whose voters did not subsequently vote. The meeting also covered Election Day logistics, voter assistance, absentee-ballot return deadlines, observers, and the schedule for reporting results. No procurement, contract, or spending activity was identified.