More than 1 million North Carolinians have already voted. What early voting turnout shows us.
More than 1.1 million North Carolinians have already voted in the 2022 general election.
The largest group of North Carolina voters — those registered as unaffiliated — are less interested in early voting than Democrats and Republicans. More than a week into one-stop early voting, Democrats lead the turnout for early voting and absentee mail-in ballots, followed by Republicans and unaffiliated voters in a close third.
Unaffiliated voters surpassed the major parties earlier this year as the largest voting group in the state. They represent more than 35% of registered North Carolina voters and about 30% of ballots cast early. So far, Democrats lead the turnout for early voting and mailed-in ballots, representing 39% of ballots cast, followed by Republicans at 31%.
There are still several days left of early voting. Voters can also vote on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 8.
In North Carolina’s last general midterm election, which was in 2018, there was a 53% total turnout rate through Election Day. The 2018 turnout was the largest midterm participation rate since 1990 when 62% of eligible voters cast a ballot.
After 11 days of one-stop voting and including accepted mail-in absentee ballots — which were first accepted Sept. 9 — 15.7% of eligible participants have voted so far in 2022.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections also reports voting turnout so far by race, showing 74% of ballots cast so far are from white voters, through Oct. 30. Black turnout has made up 19% of ballots cast, with all other racial demographics at 8%.
Early voting continues through Nov. 5, three days before Election Day. North Carolina total voter turnout in the 2020 presidential election was 5.5 million people, which was a turnout rate of 75% of eligible voters.
You can read hundreds of candidate questionnaires, stories and more in our News & Observer 2022 Voter Guide.
This story was originally published October 27, 2022 at 1:28 PM.
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