In North Carolina, mail-in and early voting have already surpassed 2016 numbers
More North Carolina voters have already cast absentee ballots through mail-in and in-person early voting than in all of 2016.
About 3.17 million absentee ballots had been cast in North Carolina as of Sunday, nine days before Election Day, records show. The number will continue to climb as early-voting sites remain open this week and mail-in ballots continue to roll in.
In 2016, a total of about 3.14 million North Carolinians used absentee voting.
“We’ve never seen numbers of this magnitude, ever, in North Carolina,” said Michael Bitzer, a political science professor at Catawba College in Salisbury and one of the state’s leading political experts.
The coronavirus pandemic has been a big reason for the increase, with many people opting for mail-in ballots instead of going to the polls. Nearly 780,000 North Carolinians have mailed in their ballots, and another 650,000 have requested mail-in ballots but have not yet sent them back.
Four years ago, fewer than 200,000 people voted by mail in North Carolina.
Young voters are also contributing to the increase. Across the state, nearly 205,000 people ages 18-29 cast their early ballots as of Oct. 21, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning & Engagement, a non-partisan research organization.
Unaffiliated voters — who tend to be younger than the typical voter, according to the Carolina Demography project at UNC-Chapel Hill — have increased their absentee voting the most this year. As of Sunday, unaffiliated voters had already cast 12% more absentee ballots than they did in all of 2016.
About 30% of the unaffiliated voters who have cast their ballots so far are younger than 40, Bitzer said, citing his analysis. That age group, he said, is “overwhelmingly Democratic” even if they don’t register as Democrats.
The increase in absentee voting spans political parties. While unaffiliated voters are now at 112% of their 2016 absentee voting total, Democrats are at 98% and Republicans are at 95%. Libertarians are at 111%.
Early voting ends on Halloween
Early voting runs through Halloween on Saturday. The polls will be closed Sunday and Monday before reopening for Election Day, on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Every county in the state should have its early voting locations posted online on the county election board’s website, or at vt.ncsbe.gov/ossite. A few counties, including Wake and Durham, have created websites with real-time updates on the wait time at each location.
Pat Gannon, spokesman for the N.C. State Board of Elections, said the final weekend of early voting is typically crowded.
He said that for people who still plan to vote early and can do so before this weekend, the lines likely won’t be as long.
“The last two days of early voting, Friday and Saturday, are expected to be very busy,” he said.
For some voters, the desire to avoid long lines is driven by the same thing that has led to more mail-in ballots: COVID-19.
North Carolina has seen a recent spike in coronavirus cases, including a record-high single-day increase reported Friday.
Mail-in voting and deadlines
The deadline to request mail-in ballots is the end of the day Tuesday.
That means it’s already too late to send in a request form by mail, but voters can visit their county elections office or go online to votebymail.ncsbe.gov/app to request mail-in ballots.
“If you want to vote by mail, please request your ballot now,” Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections, said in a press release Monday. “But if you miss the request deadline, you can still vote early in person through Oct. 31 or on Election Day, Nov. 3, at your assigned precinct.”
Similarly, people who haven’t yet registered to vote can still register at one of their county’s polling places during early voting. They cannot register to vote on Election Day.
It’s still unclear how long after the election officials will be able to accept mail-in ballots, due to an ongoing lawsuit. Regardless of what happens, the absolute last day to get a mail-in ballot postmarked is Election Day.
But many observers have suggested that voters mail in their ballots sooner rather than later to avoid potential delays in the mail, and to have time to correct any potential problems.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Domecast politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published October 26, 2020 at 7:57 PM.
