Gusty winds had enough strength Saturday that some signs related to early voting needed extra weight to stay put. But eager voters bundled up and cast their ballots during early voting at centers in Raleigh.
Karen Brinson Bell, Executive Director of the North Carolina Board of Elections, gave ABC11 this update on early voting:
“We’re really happy with the turnout that we’ve had so far. It’s on par with 2020. We’ve had a number of absentee requests,” she said. “It’s actually up over 2020 for those wanting to vote by mail and our turnout for in-person early voting has been on par with 2020. And we’re looking also at some counties that may have had more people show up than others.”
“Wake County’s the most populous county in the state, that’s after the last census. But Mecklenburg is also very high numbers. I think there are about 4,500 folks who have voted thus far and about 5,500 have turned out in Wake County.”
Bell said the turnout for Republicans and Democrats is almost even.
“Both are at about 36% turnout right now. We’re not seeing any problems but we do want to make sure people are aware this is the largest election that we’ve had where photo ID is required. And so an individual will need to present an acceptable photo ID when they come to vote. For most, it will be a driver’s license. But for many, you know, they can show a veteran’s I.D., travel I.D., a student I.D. that’s been approved and if they don’t have a form of I.D., they can complete an exception form.”