NC early voting ended Saturday. More than 200,000 people cast ballots across Charlotte area
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Mecklenburg Voter Guide 2022
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More than 2 million North Carolina voters cast ballots ahead of Election Day as the state’s early voting period concluded Saturday afternoon, election officials said.
Voters in Mecklenburg County, meanwhile, surpassed 200,000 ballots cast in the midterm election either at an early voting site or through absentee by-mail, according to the Board of Elections. That’s a slight decrease from 2018 early voting totals, and a significant dip from 2020.
Early voting started on Oct. 20 and ended Saturday, lasting 17 days.
As of Sunday morning, 187,944 Mecklenburg County residents voted in person and 15,821 by-mail ballots were approved by the county board — a total of 203,765 votes. That’s about 25.4% of the county’s 800,786 registered voters.
While Mecklenburg County had slightly more in-person early voters in 2018, the county approved more by-mail ballots this year. During the last midterm election, 198,658 residents voted in person and 13,226 by-mail ballots were approved.
And at the same time in 2020, more than 500,000 residents — or 63% of the county’s registered voters — cast ballots early.
The second-to-last day of early voting had the highest turnout countywide. On Friday, more than 21,000 Mecklenburg County residents voted in person. And on Saturday, the last day, nearly 18,000 residents voted in person.
About 21% of Mecklenburg County’s in-person ballots were cast in the final two days of the early voting period, the county’s data shows.
Higher turnout among Democrats than Republicans
Early voting turnout among Mecklenburg County Democrats was nearly double the turnout among Republicans.
As of Sunday, 46% of county residents who voted early in person were registered Democrats, 23% were registered Republicans and 31% were unaffiliated.
The disparity between the two parties was greater for mail-in ballots. So far, 46% were from Democrats and 16% were from Republicans. The remaining ballots were from unaffiliated voters.
Out of the county’s 24 early voting sites, the most popular one was the University Area precinct at 9315 N. Tryon St. As of Sunday, more than 14,000 voters cast ballots at the precinct.
Other popular voting sites include:
▪ Cornelius Town Hall — 13,262 voters
▪ South Park Regional Library — 12,870 voters
▪ South County Regional Library — 12,288 voters
▪ Steele Creek Area — 11,243 voters
Early voting across NC
About 29% of North Carolina’s 7.4 million registered voters cast ballots prior to Tuesday’s midterm election, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
As of Sunday morning, 2,007,518 North Carolina residents voted in person and 140,517 absentee by-mail ballots were cast — a total of 2,148,035 votes. That’s a 13% increase over the same time in 2018, according to the state Board of Elections.
During the 2020 election, about 66% of North Carolina voters cast a ballot at an early voting site and 18% voted absentee by-mail, according to data from the state Board of Elections.
The turnout disparity among statewide Democrats and Republicans was far less than Mecklenburg County’s. As of Sunday, 38% of those who voted early across the state were registered Democrats, 31% were registered Republicans and 30% were unaffiliated.
Data from the state Board of Elections showed as of Sunday, 27% of Black registered voters had cast ballots early, either in person or via mail. Of white registered voters, 32% voted early.
Statewide, Generation Z and millennials — ages 18 to 41 — make up 40% of the voting base but less than 15% of voters as of Nov. 1.
Baby boomers (ages 58-78) made up 50.6% of early voters across North Carolina, Generation X (42-57) accounted for 20.2% and the remaining 15.2% of early votes came from the Silent Generation (77-111). The average age of people who have cast a ballot in North Carolina was 58.
This story was originally published November 6, 2022 at 2:07 PM.
