Early voting update: Twice as many NC votes now have been cast than this time in 2016
About 163,000 votes were cast in person across North Carolina on Saturday, bringing the total to 828,456 in the state.
That total is more than double the amount of people in North Carolina who had gone to the polls at this time in the 2016 election.
Saturday’s total is about 136% higher than the 68,893 ballots cast on the first Saturday of 2016, according to Wake County Board of Elections member Gerry Cohen.
More sites are available this year and the hours are longer, so increased availability means more people are getting to the polls to vote early, Cohen said.
There’s also heightened interest and a lot more information being pushed to residents about early voting sites than there was in 2016, particularly on social media, he said.
For example, people could vote early at 291 places Sunday in 44 of 100 NC counties, including Wake, Durham, Orange counties. The first Sunday of early voting for the 2016 election had 41 sites in 13 counties across the state, Cohen found.
What’s the best time to vote? Cohen said Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday or Sunday may be good days to avoid long lines. And the best times to go vote at the polls are between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., and between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on weekdays, he tweeted.
More than 1.4 million votes cast
In addition to early votes cast in person, 605,322 absentee ballots had been cast as of early Sunday morning.
That brings the total number of votes cast to 1.43 million, more than 19% of the state’s registered voters.
In Wake County, 65,971 votes have been cast in early voting through Saturday.
In Durham County, 35,444 votes have been cast in person. In Orange County, 11,749 votes have been cast in person.
Daily totals reported by the NC State Board of Elections can be adjusted because of late reports from counties and processing votes cast by voters using same day voter registration, Cohen said.
How to make sure your vote is counted
The early voting period lasts until Oct. 31. For early voting, there are multiple locations in your county. Check out this map (vt.ncsbe.gov/ossite/) of early voting sites. You can vote at any early voting site in the county where you live.
Early voting sites will have curbside voting available for anyone who cannot enter the building because of age, disability, medical condition that puts them at heightened risk of COVID-19, or symptoms of COVID-19.
If you prefer to vote by mail, the Board of Elections must receive your request by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
Once you’ve sent your ballot in, you can track it with a new app called BallotTrax. More information is at northcarolina.ballottrax.net.
Check out The N&O’s voter guide to view your ballot and to compare candidates’ positions.
COVID-19 safety at the polls
Early voting sites will enforce six feet of social distancing as you wait in line and will have hand sanitizer and masks available for voters.
Voters are “strongly encouraged” to wear masks but will not be turned away if they are not wearing one, according to a June memo from the State Board of Elections.
The election workers will also wear masks, along with other protective equipment like gloves and face shields. There will be barriers between those workers and voters when you check in at a table, according to the State Board of Elections.
This story was originally published October 18, 2020 at 3:19 PM.
