North Carolina Early Voting Turnout Surpasses 2018 Midterms

North Carolina saw a 13 percent increase in early voting turnout in 2022 compared to the 2018 midterm elections,  the News&Observer reported, citing state data.

By the end of Sunday, 2,152,369 — 29 percent of the Tar Heel State’s registered voters — cast ballots for the Nov. 8 midterm elections. Roughly 2,008,671 participated in early voting, and 137,778 voted by mail, 4,730 of the latter group from overseas and 1,190 of the same group from the military, data from the North Carolina State Board of Elections shows. The state has 7,404,580 total registered voters.

Broken down by political affiliation, Democrats saw nearly 33 percent turnout with 821,340 ballots cast, Republicans saw roughly 30.3 percent turnout with 673,762, and unaffiliated voters saw 24.7 percent with 651,363. Early voting in the state finished on Saturday afternoon and lasted 17 days, beginning on Oct. 20.

The report notes that roughly 66 percent of those who voted in North Carolina during the 2020 presidential election cast a ballot at an early voting site, and 18 percent voted by mail.

North Carolina has several competitive state and congressional races, though the most high-stakes race is between Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) and Democrat Cheri Beasley for the open United States Senate seat. Recent polling shows Budd leading Beasley by several points ahead of a battle that could ultimately decide the balance of power in the Senate, along with several other close Senate races across the country.