Early in-person voting began on Thursday (October 17) in North Carolina, including in areas still recovering from the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. Despite the ongoing recovery efforts, only four of 80 sites in the 25 western counties hardest hit by the storm will not open for early voting.
According to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, all county boards of elections offices are now open throughout the state. The board has given county election boards the flexibility to modify early voting sites, including locations and their daily hours. In Buncombe County, one of the hardest-hit areas, 10 of the 14 planned early voting sites will be open.
Early in-person voting, which continues through November 2, is very popular in North Carolina. More than 3.6 million ballots — 65% of all cast ballots — were cast this way in the 2020 general election. In the 2016 election, 62% of all cast ballots were cast during early in-person voting.
As reported by WYFF4, the importance of early voting wasn’t lost upon the presidential campaigns of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump. On Thursday, Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz was expected to campaign in Winston-Salem and in Durham, where he was to be joined by former President Bill Clinton.