NORTH CAROLINA, USA — With one day left for early voting in North Carolina, election officials announced that it has seen a record number of early votes cast in the Tar Heel state.
The record was set by 10 a.m. Friday, with more than 3.7 million North Carolinians casting their ballot, exceeding the early in-person total for all of 2020. Hours later, the NC State Board of Elections said the total turnout for the 2024 election had exceeded 4 million votes when accounting for both in-person and absentee ballots. More than half of all registered voters in North Carolina have now cast their vote.
"Hurricane Helene did not stop us from voting," said Karen Brinson Bell, the state board’s executive director and top voting official in the swing state. She added that voters have been appreciative and "we are seeing a lot of civility."
"Everyone made it really simple and easy, I got to bring my daughter along to see the process," first-time voter Chanaya Sanders told 13News Now, sitting outside the Currituck courthouse. "Sometime in the near future, she [her daughter] will have her voice heard.”
Sixty-five percent of North Carolina voters used the early voting period to cast their ballots in 2020.
Bell added that another milestone the state hopes to reach is a quicker result time on election night. In 2020, the state published its results by 12:28 a.m., which Bell hopes they can accomplish, even given the challenges of Hurricane Helene's impacts on western North Carolina.
“We are not instant in what we do, we’re accurate in what we do," she added.
"Two big changes in 2024 compared to 2020 when it comes to early voting. One, there are more early voters. We are seeing record-breaking numbers of early voting. Second, Republicans are turning out to vote more often earlier than they have in the past," Dr. Jason Husser, a political science professor and director for the Elon University Poll, previously told 13News Now.
North Carolina voters have until November 2 at 3 p.m. to cast their ballot early. Election Day is Tuesday, November 5, 2024.