Reply #17: This is codified into the law. Info on North Carolina Early Voting

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

The election officials don't unlock the ballot box, go through the ballots, and try to match them up to your early voted ballot application - unless - you have tried to vote twice!

On my webpage, this excerpt from an election officials' comments about early voting:

"The vote is tied to the voter even on optical scan/paper ballots -

we are required to put the ID number on the ballot itself (or enter it into the DRE before the voter votes). The same process is designated on absentee ballots.

The reason for this is that absentee ballots including one-stop voters must be approved by the board and can be challenged by any voter. So at the absentee meeting, if it is determined by the board that the voter is ineligble for whatever reason, the ballot could then be removed.

Also if the voter votes on election day (which shouldn't happen but sometimes does) the absentee or one-stop ballot can then be removed and the vote subtracted so that the voter does not have their ballot counted twice."

more about early voting in North Carolina here
http://www.ncvoter.net/earlyvoting.html

Early voted ballots are counted ON Election Day.