NC early voting is beating 2018 midterms. Which generations are leading the way?
In-person and mail-in absentee ballots in North Carolina are outpacing 2018 midterm election numbers despite having one fewer day in the early voting cycle.
Mecklenburg County, meanwhile, topped 100,000 votes cast in person with the bulk of early voters expected to hit the polls this week, Mecklenburg Elections Director Michael Dickerson said. While that’s fewer early voters than the same time in 2018, Dickerson said he expects turnout to increase over the next week
“We’re on schedule for 50% (of registered voter) turnout,” Dickerson said. “Hopefully that will work out, but I am the eternal optimist.”
Early voting began Oct. 20 and lasts until Saturday — 17 days. That’s one fewer day than 2018, but it hasn’t affected turnout so far, data show.
As of Tuesday morning, 108,259 Mecklenburg residents cast their votes in person, and 8,106 main-in ballots have been approved by the county board — a total of 116,356 votes cast early. That’s about 14.5% of Mecklenburg’s 800,786 registered voters.
Statewide, Generation Z and millennials — ages 18 to 41 — make up 40% of the voting base but less than 15% of voters thus far.
Baby boomers (ages 58-78) make up 50.6% of early voters across North Carolina, Generation X (42-57) accounts for 20.2% and the remaining 15.2% of early votes come from the Silent Generation (77-111). The average age of people who have cast a ballot in North Carolina is 61.
Catawba College Politics Department Chair Michael Bitzer said he was surprised at just how few voters from younger generations have cast ballots. Though, low turnout among younger voters is common.
“If both Gen Z and millennials are going to punch up to their weight, there’s some real work to be done,” Bitzer said. “In recent elections, the majority of millennials voted on Election Day and Gen Z was split between early voting and Election Day. That will give us some clue of when and if they’re going to show up.”
Bitzer also noted the racial and ethnic makeup of early voters is whiter than the North Carolina voters at large.
In North Carolina, 73% of early voters are white, 19% are Black and 1.3% are Hispanic.
Democrat turnout is double Republican turnout in Mecklenburg County
Mecklenburg County Democrats, who hold a majority in the local government, have doubled the early voting among Republicans.
So far, 46% who voted early countywide were registered Democrats, 23% were registered Republicans and 31% were unaffiliated.
Vote by mail has increased in popularity this year compared to the 2018 midterms, Dickerson said. He expects up to 12,000 mail-in ballots returned this election cycle.
The disparity between Democrats and Republicans is greater for mail in ballots. As of Monday, 48% were from Democrats and 15% were from Republicans. The remaining ballots were turned in by unaffiliated voters.
Fifteen candidates, including eight Democratic incumbents and seven challengers, are running for nine seats on the Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners. Despite strong turnout from Democrats early, Bitzer said it’s too soon to tell if we’ll see any seats flipped at the local level.
“The trend in Mecklenburg has been moving much more to Democratic dominance,” Bitzer said. “It’s just becoming harder for Republicans in urban areas, urban counties like Mecklenburg, while Republicans are doing very well in suburban areas.”
Turnout strongest in University area, Cornelius, South Park
The most popular early voting precinct so far is the University Area precinct at 9315 N. Tryon St. As of Tuesday, almost 8,600 voters cast ballots at the precinct.
Other popular voting sites include:
▪ Cornelius Town Hall — 8,078 voters
▪ South Park Regional Library — 8,036 voters
▪ South County Regional Library — 7,605 voters
▪ Matthews Library — 6,996 voters
Six early voting sites were added since the 2018 midterms, Dickerson said, easing frustration and lines.
“People love to vote early,” he said.
This story was originally published October 31, 2022 at 6:51 PM.
