A week before the Election Day, here’s what early voting turnout looks like in NC

After more than a week of early voting, North Carolina outpaces the country in turnout. 

The North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) releases data on voter turnout daily. As of the close of the polls on Oct. 28, 3.1 million people have cast their ballots. That is nearly 40% of eligible voters.

Voting early by going in person was the most common method used.

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Early voting turnout numbers for so far in 2024 slightly lag behind 2020 but far outpace the 2016 election. At this time in the 2020 election, 3.4 million voters had turned out, compared to nearly 1.9 million in 2016.

Most of North Carolina’s electorate is registered as unaffiliated. North Carolinians are almost equally split between identifying as Democrat, Republican, and unaffiliated, with small margins registered with third parties. Republicans so far make up the largest proportion of early voters, at 34.14%. Democrats and unaffiliated voters account for 33.03% and 32.24% of the early vote so far, respectively.

Based on the data on demographics provided by NCSBE, slightly more female voters have cast ballots than male voters.

Turnout is about 9 percentage points higher among white voters than Black voters. In 2020 on Oct. 28, 728,627 Black votes had been cast compared to 543,296 on the same day in 2024.

According to the New York Times, North Carolina leads the country in early voting as of Oct. 28. Their analysis shows the percentage of people who have voted early in North Carolina is almost twice as many as those who have across the United States.

North Carolina is one of many states to change early voting rules since the 2020 election, including changes to voter ID requirements and availability of absentee ballot drop boxes.

Broken down by location, Wake County has tallied the most votes so far with over 330,000 ballots cast. In the 25 counties impacted by Helene, about 38% of people registered have voted, as of Oct. 27. NCSBE has released guidance for voters from disaster areas since the designation was granted.

With the election one week away, all voters can refer here for rules and stipulations on how to vote. If you want more information about who’s on the ballot, you can use EdNC’s voter guide here.