Early voting opened with a boom in North Carolina last week
After two days of early in-person voting, 398,581 ballots had been cast in-person statewide, an increase of almost 48% compared to the total votes cast after the first two days in 2022.
It is important to note, election statistics compare presidential election years separately from “off-year” elections. Presidential years normally have far higher voting than other election years.
Voting & party trends
In addition to the overall jump in early voting numbers, the party composition shifted from 2022 to 2026. Statewide, as of the end of voting on Friday, October 16, over 77,000 more Democrats and 56,000 more unaffiliated cast ballots than during the same period in 2022, while Republican ballots cast dropped by more than 5,000.
At the end of day two of early voting, about 45% of those voting early in-person were Democrats, 33% unaffiliated, and Republicans 21%. Racial composition shifted somewhat as well, with Black voters up to nearly a quarter of the in-person ballots cast.
Of course, an increase in early voting by a group does not necessarily mean more votes overall, if the change represents mainly voters who would normally have voted later or on election day itself. However, the shift here seems at least to validate consistent recent polling indicating that Democratic voters are substantially more enthusiastic about voting this year than Republicans.
Dr. Michael Bitzer, faculty at Catawba College’s Center for NC Politics and Public Service, notes that the increase in voting during the first days of early in-person voting was found in 95 of the 100 counties around our state.
What does this mean for pro-environment candidates?
The numbers suggest an advantage to environment-friendly candidates like Roy Cooper for US Senate and Anita Earls for NC Supreme Court.
“There is a lot at stake. Big tech and data centers are targeting our communities; Duke Energy is raking in massive profits while our energy bills skyrocket; and threats to our democracy abound at the federal and state level, just to name a few,” said NCLCV Executive Director Carrie Clark at the start of early voting. “The best way to fight back is to vote!”
Stay in the loop with daily updates on statewide turnout by checking out this user-friendly tool from Carolina Forward.