Get your ballots ready: Voting in White House race underway

Early voting for the 2016 US presidential election kicked off on Friday in North Carolina, ushering in a two-month period of advance voting before the final results will be tallied on Election Day on November 8.

The state’s Republican-controlled Board of Elections deliberated through disputed plans from more than 30 counties before approving or amending them Thursday. Residents can submit mail-in ballots without an excuse starting Friday, and early voting at the polls will begin Oct 20 in the Tar Heel state.

OH goes the other way, with the Republican magnate 1 percent ahead of his Democratic rival, 46 percent to 45 percent, while the two are tied in Florida, each with 47 percent.

An Associated Press analysis found that 50 to 75 percent of the vote is expected be cast early in the presidential battleground states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, and North Carolina.

North Carolina are reducing the number of hours in which people can vote, and it has sparked worries that it will have a negative impact specifically on the black vote.

Another element of the North Carolina elections is the state’s voting law, passed in 2013, signed by Republican Pat McCrory and revoked last July 29 by a court of appeals with the argument that it was an attempt at racial discrimination.

Some counties have seen the early voting hours cut down to just one-quarter of the amount of time assigned just four years ago – Lenoir County has 106 hours this year, compared to 443 in 2016.