The former North Carolina elections director who was ousted this week after a politically motivated move by Republicans said Friday she hopes the new leadership will approach elections in a nonpartisan way and called for an end to verbal attacks against those who oversee the voting process.

North Carolina's elections board has ousted the agency’s executive director after Republicans gained control.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections’ top administrator wants a powerful legislator to retract a comment that he made suggesting this month’s results were being manipulated.

North Carolina elections officials say that more than 4.2 million voters cast ballots at early in-person voting sites, with turnout in western counties hit by Hurricane Helene outpacing the rest of the state.

Early in-person voting has started in the presidential battleground state of North Carolina.

North Carolina election officials say they will do everything in their power to ensure that voters in the crucial presidential swing state will be able to cast their ballots despite the devastation of Hurricane Helene only about a month before the November election.

Republicans who control the North Carolina legislature with veto-proof majorities are close to wresting supervision of elections from the governor and the governor’s party — almost always the Democrats for over a century.

In Georgia, a federal judge ruled this week that ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 could be counted as long as are received within three days. North Carolina, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Utah, Washington State, West Virginia and the District of Columbia have laws that allow votes postmarked by Election Day to be counted. Dont wait until the last weekend to mail it back, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Elections Director Michael Dickerson said. North Carolina voter Ann Maher plans to do just that. I may just have one vote, but want my vote to count.Other important election deadlines to know