As early voting begins in NC’s 2022 primary election, tens of thousands cast ballots

Just days after in-person voting began in North Carolina, the 2022 primary election is seeing tens of thousands of people head to the polls.

The early voting period, which allows voters to cast their ballots ahead of the statewide primary election on May 17, runs from April 28 through May 14.

Until then, voters can register to vote in-person and cast a ballot at any open early voting location in their county.

As of Sunday morning, 66,001 ballots have been cast through early, in-person voting, according to data from the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

That’s up from 37,477 cast after the first three days of in-person early voting in the 2018 primary election — the most recent statewide primary election without a presidential race.

Known as a “blue moon” election, the 2018 cycle had no Senate race or gubernatorial race at the top of the ballot to attract voters to the polls.

Wake County voter turnout

In Wake County, turnout rose from just 431 ballots cast in the first three days of in-person early-voting in 2018 to 5,411 so far this year, according to State Board of Elections data.

And despite the higher turnout, people aren’t waiting long to cast their votes, said Gary Sims, director of the Wake County Board of Elections.

“The worst you may see is, very first thing in the morning, you may have eight or 10 people in line,” he said. “If you do go vote early, especially right now, I guarantee you, you’re not going to see lines.”

But Sims warned that as the election draws closer, turnout rates will increase further and longer waits could develop.

He expects upwards of 30,000 people to vote early in Wake County, compared to about 11,340 in 2018.

“I honestly thought it would be higher,” Sims added of turnout so far, “just because of the very competitive races and fields we’ve got out there.”

Durham County Democrats vote

In Durham County, 3,324 ballots have been cast so far — of which 2,958 were Democratic ballots. That was up from 1,560 total ballots cast in the first three days of early voting in 2018.

The high Democratic turnout comes amid a hotly contested race to represent the 4th Congressional District, a seat held for decades by retiring Democratic Rep. David Price.

In a crowded field, Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam, state Sen. Valerie Foushee and former American Idol contestant Clay Aiken have emerged as front-runners for the seat.

In Orange County, 1,663 early ballots have been cast, compared to 806 as of the third day in 2018.

Wake County has nearly 800,000 registered voters, while Durham has more than 232,000 and Orange has over 108,000.

For more on how to vote in the 2022 primary election, see The News & Observer’s voter guide at: newsobserver.com/voter-guide

A list of early voting sites across the Triangle can be found at: https://bit.ly/39uKJVr.

For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at https://campsite.bio/underthedome or wherever you get your podcasts.

This story was originally published May 1, 2022 at 5:06 PM.