Inside the plan to keep your votes secure

Good morning! Today is Wednesday, October 14, 2026. You’re reading The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C.

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Hi Ledger readers, Ashley here. Fall is the best time of year: the weather finally starts to cool down, the leaves change, Halloween — and it’s election season. Tomorrow begins early voting, and we at The Ledger are working closely with The Election Hub, a free, nonpartisan resource, to provide you with information and news on what you need to know to go to the polls as an informed voter. Expect more election coverage in the coming days and weeks, and be sure to drop a note to The Election Hub’s reporter Rachel Black if you have any story ideas or suggestions on what you, as a local voter, want to know more about.

This story was republished from The Election Hub, a free, non-partisan resource that empowers voters with unbiased information about statewide and local races in North Carolina.

by Rachel Black

Trust in the electoral system is low for many voters. But Michael Dickerson, director of the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections, is more than confident that the elections across the county this fall will be secure and fair. 

Dickerson has been Mecklenburg County elections director for 28 years. Before that, he worked for the Federal Election Commission for 14 years. 

“I’ve sort of got this election stuff in my blood,” he said. “It's kind of a bug that you're bitten by.” 

But Dickerson understands not everyone shares that passion, and in the past few election cycles, he’s seen many voters grow weary or suspicious of the electoral process. 

The most common questions his office has received leading up to this midterm election, Dickerson said, relate to mail-in voting. Will voters still receive their absentee ballots — and will they be counted? 

The questions were prompted by President Donald Trump’s yearslong claims that mail-in voting is rife with fraud, and his March executive order that aimed to restrict it ahead of the midterms. As challenges to that order bounced through the courts, concerns from absentee voters intensified. On Sept. 14, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the president’s March executive order — but the flurry of legal battles left many voters still confused. 

On Sept. 4, North Carolina was the first state in the country to send absentee ballots to voters who had requested one. By Sept. 5, Dickerson said, the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections started to receive completed absentee ballots. 

“There was so much talk about, ‘The Supreme Court is going to restrict it, and you're not going to be able to do anything, and we're going to have to not count these ballots,’ or something of that nature. No, we have to go through this process,” Dickerson said. 

Dickerson said that, as of Oct. 1, the Board of Elections has already sent around 12,000 absentee ballots. And two weeks ago, the board approved the first round of absentee ballots processed (about 1,200). They’ll continue to do so every Tuesday until Election Day. 

Drop boxes for absentee ballots are not permitted under North Carolina law. 

Dickerson also described other efforts his team goes through to ensure ballots are secure:

There are other concerns, too, that are unique to this midterm. 

A few facts and tidbits on the investigation into Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ finances, which seems to center on how the school board or school board members hired law firms and contractors and whether those expenditures were authorized.

➡ You can read investigation notes online at The Charlotte Ledger’s dedicated webpage

A handful of speakers, most of whom were Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools parents, criticized the Board of Education during its first public meeting since it voted 5-4 to fire Superintendent Crystal Hill on Sept. 22. Several board members also addressed parents’ concerns.

There are now multiple investigations into board contracts and allegations of financial mismanagement described in an explosive memo sent by Hill before she was terminated for convenience.

Some speakers lambasted the board’s decisions amid pressing needs facing the district, including a persistent shortage of bus drivers and overcrowded classrooms. 

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education at its Tuesday meeting briefly discussed the investigation into Superintendent Crystal Hill, which included recommendations on changes to board policies and procedures that were delivered orally to board members in August, as The Ledger previously reported.

This summer’s investigation into Hill, which cost $379,000, involved 86 interviews and 1.5 million documents. The investigation found no wrongdoing by Hill, who was fired by the board at its Sept. 22 meeting days after she sent a memo to board members alleging financial mismanagement of CMS funds.

Instead of the board requesting a written report of investigation findings from the law firm, Brooks Pierce, that investigated Hill, CMS’ acting general counsel Anna Hehenberger wrote an 18-page report on the investigation, which the board made public at its meeting last month.

Charlotte’s airport released details of its proposed new lease with major airlines, a deal that would clear the way for major airport expansions while giving carriers an enhanced cut of parking and concession revenues.

Airport officials praised the deal as a win that would lock in the airport’s continued growth over the next decade by generating $3B in airline rents and fees over that time. The airport — widely viewed as a key economic asset for the Charlotte region — is owned by the city of Charlotte but is economically self-sufficient. Its revenues come largely from airlines, federal passenger fees and parking.

Events submitted by readers to The Ledger’s events board:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16: “Meet the Candidates - Connect & Engage,” 12-3 p.m., at Stella Nova Restaurant & Bar, 3920 Sharon Rd., Suite 160. Join for an engaging town hall event hosted by the Carolinas AAPI Business Alliance and Charlotte Area Chamber of Commerce, where you’ll have the chance to meet and hear from candidates running for federal and state positions. Registration requested. Free.

OCTOBER 28: “Words + Music: From Darkness to Light,” 7:30-9 p.m., at Sandra Levine Theatre, Sarah Belk Gambrell Center for the Arts and Civic Engagement at Queens University, 2319 Wellesley Ave. In this special collaboration between the Charlotte Symphony and Queens University of Charlotte’s English Department, music and poetry come together to explore the many dimensions of the human experience — from grief and loss to remembrance, transformation and healing. Student writers and performers from Queens pair poetry with powerful orchestral works, creating a dialogue between the spoken word and the symphonic voice. $35/ticket.

NOVEMBER 12: “Verse & Vino,” 6-9:30 p.m., at Charlotte Convention Center, 501 S. College St. Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation presents Verse & Vino, the region’s premier literary event presented by PNC Bank. Verse & Vino welcomes acclaimed NYT bestselling authors Isaac Fitzgerald, Lucy Foley, R.F. Kuang and Walter Mosley. Attendees will enjoy exclusive opportunities to meet each author, an elegant, seated dinner and unlimited wine. $250.

➡️ List your event on the Ledger events board.