In-person Early Voting Ends Saturday as NC Turnout Approaches 50 percent

Four days remain in North Carolina’s early voting period, which ends Saturday, October 31.

Sometime Wednesday morning, total voter turnout in the 2020 general election will reach 50 percent in North Carolina.

Statewide, all early voting sites will be open from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. weekdays through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. For early voting site locations in their county, voters may use the One-Stop Early Voting Site Search: https://vt.ncsbe.gov/OSSite/.

“Early voting is consistently the most popular form of voting in North Carolina, and 2020 appears to be no different,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections. “If you wish to vote early, we encourage you to find a site and time that works for you between now and Saturday.”

The final few days of the early voting period are typically the busiest days, and voters may have to wait in line at some early voting sites. In 2016, more than 561,000 voters cast ballots the last Thursday and Friday of the early voting period, by far the highest turnout during a two-day span that year.

Through Tuesday, more than 2.8 million voters had cast ballots in person this year, nearing the 2,955,600 votes during the entire 2016 early voting period.

Combined with more than 819,000 by-mail ballots, more than 3.6 million North Carolinians have already voted, about 49.6 percent of all registered voters.

Same-day registration during the early voting period is the final opportunity for eligible individuals who are not yet registered to vote to cast a ballot in this election. Same-day registrants must attest to their eligibility and provide proof of where they live. For more information about same-day registration, visit https://www.ncsbe.gov/voting/vote-early-person.

Voters who receive an absentee ballot by mail may deliver their completed ballot to an election official at an early voting site in their county. Ballots will be kept securely and delivered to the county board of elections for processing. Voters may not drop their ballots off at a polling place on Election Day.

Voters who requested an absentee ballot but have not yet returned it may vote in person during the early voting period or on Election Day, November 3. They may discard the by-mail ballot and do not need to bring it to a voting site.

For more tips on voting early, visit: https://www.ncsbe.gov/news/press-releases/2020/10/14/10-tips-person-early-voters-north-carolina.

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