North Carolina surpasses early voting record

North Carolina has set an early voting record, the State Board of Elections announced Sunday.

More than 4.2 million voters cast early ballots at in-person voting sites, officials said, adding that turnout in western areas of the state impacted by Hurricane Helene outpaced the rest of the state.

North Carolina’s in-person early voting period ended Saturday afternoon statewide. The last chance to vote in the Tar Heel state, a critical battleground state, is on Election Day.

In 2020, 3.6 million North Carolinians cast their ballots early, marking the previous record.

As of Sunday morning, including absentee voting, nearly 4.5 million voters already cast ballots in the general election. It equates to about 57 percent of the state’s registered voters.

“I am proud of all of our 100 county boards of elections and the thousands of election workers who are making this happen in their communities,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the board, in a statement. “And I am especially proud of the workers and voters of Western North Carolina. You are an inspiration to us all.”

After Helene swept through western North Carolina, causing extreme flooding, there was concern about the impact of the storm on the election. The board said turnout is 58.9 percent in the 25 affected counties so far, which is 2 percent higher than the statewide turnout.

Former President Trump will be in Raleigh, N.C., for a rally Monday, one of his last messages to voters ahead of Election Day.

According to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ, Trump leads by 1.5 percentage points in North Carolina, with 49.2 percent support to Vice President Harris’s 47.7 percent.