Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. North Carolina Kicks Off Mail Voting as Requests Spike Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C - Mail balloting in the presidential election is set to begin Friday as North Carolina starts sending out more than 600,000 ballots to voters -- responding to a massive spike in requests that has played out across the country as voters look for a safer way to cast ballots during the pandemic. The 618,000 ballots requested in the initial wave in North Carolina were more than 16 times the number the state sent out at the same time four years ago. The requests came overwhelmingly from Democratic and independent voters, a reflection of a new partisan divide over mail voting. The North Carolina numbers were one more bit of evidence backing up what experts have been predicting for months: Worries about the virus are likely to push tens of millions of voters to vote by mail for the first time, transforming the way the election is conducted and the vote is counted. WATCH: What Does It Mean to Vote By Mail? .