First day of early voting set a Mecklenburg record. Here were the busiest, and slowest, sites.

The record turnout that launched early voting in Mecklenburg County on Thursday saw the heaviest voting on Charlotte’s fringes, according to elections data released Friday, while the sites with the largest voter capacity drew only middling crowds.

And Friday drew nearly as strong a turnout.

On Thursday, Southwest Middle School, Cornelius Town Hall and UNC Charlotte’s Belk Gymnasium saw the most voters with more than 1,300 each. Renaissance West STEAM Academy, Mountain Island Lake Library and Bette Rae Thomas Recreation Center were the least-visited locations with as few as 545 voters.

The 33 polling sites averaged 1,069 voters each Thursday.

The largest sites — Spectrum Center, Bank of America Stadium and Bojangles Entertainment Complex — each drew 1,000 to 1,100 voters.

The total of 35,269 voters for the first day of early voting crushed the county-record 29,843 turnout of Nov. 4, 2016. Early voting continues through Oct. 31.

Friday drew another 33,775 voters, for a two-day total of 69,044.

Staff Writer Joe Marusak contributed.

This story was originally published October 16, 2020 at 1:29 PM.