Early voting has started in the Triad. How does the turnout compare to past elections?

Featured photo: Primary Election Day at Reid Memorial C.M.E. Church on Bennett St. on May 17, 2022 (photo by Carolyn de Berry)

Note: We will continue to update this page every couple of days with new numbers.

On Oct. 17, early voting started this year in North Carolina. In the Triad, voters woke up early and waited in long lines to cast their vote. At some precincts, voters waited an hour or more to cast their vote.

By now, most states have started their early voting period, with some states starting later this month. In Georgia, voters broke records by turning out to vote on the first day of early voting. According to CNN, more than 328,000 ballots were cast Tuesday, breaking the former record of 136,000 in 2020 by almost 200,000 votes.

So what do the numbers look like in North Carolina and in the Triad?

North Caroline as a whole

According to data posted on the state’s Board of Elections website, as of Oct. 12, there were more than 7.7 million people registered to vote in NC. By Oct. 17, about 75,000 people had cast mail-in ballots.

• Oct. 17: As of the end of the day on Thursday, which was the first day of early voting, 353,166 people had cast their vote in person.
• Oct. 18: TBD
• Oct. 19: TBD

In 2020, about 5.5 million total ballots were cast in the general election. The turnout percentage was 75 percent. Of the 5.5 million ballots cast, about 3.6 million people voted during the early voting period. One million voted by mail and 896,815 people voted on Election Day.

Guilford County numbers

In Guilford County, for the 2020 General Election, 191,477 people cast their votes during the early voting period.

This year:

• Oct. 17: For the first day of early voting, 19,004 people cast their vote. That was an increase of more than 2,000 votes or 12 percent compared to the first day of early voting for the 2020 election.
• Oct. 18: TBD
• Oct. 19: TBD

The chart below shows the difference in early voting turnout for Guilford County for the 2024, 2020, 2016 and 2012 general elections. The chart will be updated every few days.

Note: The number of sites and hours operating during early voting was different for the 2016 and 2012 elections than they were in 2020 and 2024 so TCB chose to compare the days in which a majority of the voting sites were open.

Forsyth County numbers

In Forsyth County, for the 2020 General Election, 127,276 people cast their votes during the early voting period.

This year:

• Oct. 17: For the first day of early voting, 13,009 people cast their vote. That was an increase of more than 1,200 votes or 11 percent compared to the first day of early voting for the 2020 election.
• Oct. 18: TBD
• Oct. 19: TBD

The chart below shows the difference in early voting turnout for Forsyth County for the 2024, 2020 and 2016 general elections. Forsyth County did not have data for the 2012 election readily available. The chart will be updated every few days.

Note: The number of sites and hours operating during early voting was different for the 2016 election than they were in 2020 and 2024 so TCB chose to compare the days in which a majority of the voting sites were open.