Voting figures from North Carolina – a pivotal battleground state – indicate that despite the severe impact of Hurricane Helene, more than 200,000 votes have already been cast in counties that traditionally lean Republican.
Early voting in North Carolina set a statewide record of over 350,000 ballots cast on Oct. 17.
Over 2.8 million ballots have since been cast in North Carolina, which represents 36% of the registered voters population in the state, according to the North Carolina Board of Elections (NCSBE).
Of the ballots cast, 2.5 million were early votes, while 151,000 were absentee ballots.
The data represents an increase in early voting since the same time in 2016, eight days before the election, which saw 1.6 million ballots cast. However, 2020 saw 3.1 million early votes during that time in the cycle, in big part due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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People wait outside an early voting site on Oct.17, 2024, in Asheville. Several counties affected by Hurricane Helene saw a large turnout for the first day of early voting in western North Carolina. (Melissa Sue Gerrits)
Data also shows that 1.42% more Democrats than Republicans have cast their vote, as of Sunday.
After Hurricane Helene made a deadly sweep across western North Carolina, concerns over ballot box access prompted state lawmakers to adjust their voting rules ahead of early voting in the state.
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The NCSBE identified 13 counties as being most impacted by Hurricane Helene, but Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the state Board of Elections, told reporters on Friday that the affected areas are seeing “tremendous turnout.”
An aerial view of destroyed and damaged buildings in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene flooding on Oct. 8 in Bat Cave, North Carolina. (Mario Tama)
Since early voting started, over 218,000 have already been cast in the western counties, despite damage from the disastrous storm.
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To ensure voting access for residents in the affected areas, North Carolina lawmakers passed a bill on Thursday to require that the 13 counties open one early voting site per 30,000 individuals.
Those identified in western North Carolina as most impacted have seen tens of thousands of votes cast, as of Sunday: Ashe [7,541], Avery [3,823], Buncombe [78,645], Haywood [19,079], Henderson [31,158], Madison [6,036], McDowell [11,205], Mitchell [4,224], Polk [7,270], Rutherford [14,873], Transylvania [11,804], Watauga [16,993], and Yancey [5,477].