With several days of in-person early voting remaining, ballots cast so far in the 2018 general election already have exceeded all ballots cast early during the 2014 midterm election.
As of 3:30 p.m. Monday (October 29), 1,225,892 North Carolinians had voted early this election, up 4.4 percent from 1,174,184 in 2014. The 2014 number was surpassed with six days remaining in this year’s in-person early voting period, which ends Saturday (November 3). Also, by-mail absentee ballots are still being accepted by county boards of elections across the state.
However, with more than 7 million registered voters in North Carolina, nearly 6 million people still have not cast ballots in this important election season.
“We hope millions of voters who have not yet made their voices heard will do so, either during early voting or on Election Day,” said Kim Westbrook Strach, executive director of the State Board of Elections & Ethics Enforcement.
In the 2014 midterms, final statewide voter turnout was 44 percent, or more than 2.9 million votes. Through 3:30 p.m. Monday, 17.3 percent of registered voters had cast ballots in 2018.
In 2014, the in-person early voting period was 10 days. This year, the early voting period spans 18 days. Early voting schedules and locations vary by county. Voters can find their county’s early voting schedules here: https://vt.ncsbe.gov/ossite/.
In North Carolina, early voting includes in-person absentee voting, also called “one-stop” voting, as well as absentee by-mail voting. Requests to receive absentee ballots by mail must be submitted to the county board of elections by 5 p.m. Tuesday (October 30).
Election Day is November 6, when polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voters can find their Election Day polling place here: https://vt.ncsbe.gov/PPLkup/.