What Charlotte voters told us about 2025 election as they turned out Tuesday
Voters turned out Tuesday across Charlotte to decide on the mayor and city council, school board and a transit referendum.
By the last day of early voting, 63,427 people cast ballots — a record for Mecklenburg County during an off-year election, The Charlotte Observer previously reported. Elections that fall in line with presidential, U.S. Senate and other high profile races tend to draw higher voter turnout than those that do not.
Early on, Tuesday’s election was no exception. But things seemed to pick up into the evening.
Footsteps echoed as voters who were stopping by before work or dropping kids off at school slowly trickled into the gymnasium at the Providence Baptist Church in southeast Charlotte. Voters said the council and transportation was top of mind for them.
“We figured participation would be low,” said one voter who didn’t want to share her name with the Observer. “Voices are needed.”
Participation was indeed low in the morning.
Bridget Bash, the precinct 36 chair judge, said the precinct as a whole saw low early voting turnout — with only around 200 people casting their ballots. As the 13th person walked in to cast in their vote Tuesday morning, Bash said she had a message to voters.
“Just come,” she said. “Come vote. We need the count. We’d like their opinion.”
The slow energy extended to the west side of Charlotte where at 8:30 a.m. — two hours after polls opened — only 25 people had cast their votes. Yet it was a large improvement from the September primary, said precinct 31 Chair Carolyn Gibson.
“During the primary, we did have 25 (voters) by 12 o’clock,” she said. She said there seemed to be more voter interest Tuesday than in September.
The pace seemed to pick up slightly at Hidden Valley Elementary School as voting stretched into the third hour. Thirty-eight people, including Ingrid Hoover Hicks, came to cast a ballot.
Hoover Hicks said there wasn’t anything in particular that brought her to the polls because she votes in every election without fail. But the main thing impacting her district was the transportation referendum, which aims to fund billions in road, rail and bus projects through an additional one-cent sales tax.
“There wasn’t a whole lot to vote on,” she said. “For our district, it was not as much (other than) the transportation referendum.”
About a dozen voters were lined up Hawthorne Academy of Health Sciences Tuesday evening. The gymnasium where voting took place was busy and buzzing, but that’s not unusual for that precinct, said Mary Hood.
Hood has been the precinct judge at the school for the last six to seven years.
“At this time it’s always busy,” Hood said. The precinct had seen about 700 voters by 6 p.m., Hood said.
One of those voters was fourth grade teacher Chelsea Steffen.
Steffen, 35, had two issues at the front of her mind this election: the transportation referendum and education. Steffen said she’s lived in other cities with robust public transportation. With Charlotte’s continued growth, she’d like to see the Queen City keep up.
She also said that while many school board candidates were good options, she ultimately voted for east Charlotte candidate Robert L. Edwards because of his focus on student mental health and supporting teachers.
Yes voters on transit tax
Derrick Dillard, 48, said he voted in favor of the transportation sales tax at the McCrorey YMCA Tuesday afternoon.
Dillard said he is an avid user of the light rail system and wants to see it, as well as Interstate 77 and bus stops, expanded.
“I don’t want us to experience what they are experiencing in Atlanta with the traffic,” Dillard said.
Dillard also said he was excited to vote for Council member Malcolm Graham, who has done “a lot for the west side.”
A poll worker at the YMCA said voter turnout appeared enthusiastic. About 450 people had voted at the precinct by 3 p.m., which is “extremely” good turn out, the poll worker said.
Renée Answine kept up her tradition of voting in every election that comes around, she said outside of the Greater Mount Moriah Primitive Baptist Church in uptown.
“It’s the right thing to do,” said Answine, 56. “We’re allowed to have a voice, so we should use that voice.”
She voted in favor of the transportation sales tax. As Charlotte grows, its transportation needs to keep up, Answine said.
Poll workers said over 600 people voted at the church by 4 p.m. It was significant turnout for an off-year election one of the workers said.
This story was originally published November 4, 2025 at 11:02 AM.
