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: This story has been updated with the final early voting numbers and will no longer be updated as of Nov. 4.

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 Nov. 4, there were more than 7.8 million people registered to vote in NC.

This year, 4.4 million people cast their ballots during the early-voting period. That’s slightly fewer than in 2020 when 4.56 million voters cast their ballots early. In 2016, 3.1 million people voted early.

However, more people participated in in-person early voting this year compared to 2020. This year, 4.2 million people showed up in person during the early voting period compared to 3.6 million in 2020.

Additionally, voters in the 25 Western North Carolina counties affected by Hurricane Helene outpaced the rest of the state in voter turnout. Through Saturday, turnout in those 25 counties was 58.9 percent, about 2 percent higher than the statewide turnout, according to the state Board of Elections.

According to data released by the State Board of Elections, NC voters broke the record for most ballots cast on the first day of early voting. The previous record was 348,599 in 2020 so this year, 4,567 more people voted on the first day.

In 2020, about 5.5 million total ballots were cast in NC for 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 this year’s election, 218,152 people cast their votes during the early voting period. That’s 26,675 more votes than in 2020. In 2020, 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: 17,684
• Oct. 19: 9,260
• Oct. 20: Closed (skipped on chart)
• Oct. 21: 18,806 (Day 4 on chart)
• Oct. 22: 17,016
• Oct. 23: 15,024
• Oct. 24: 13,881
• Oct. 25: 14,463
• Oct. 26: 8,054
• Oct. 27: 5,621
• Oct. 28: 13,438
• Oct. 29: 12,212
• Oct. 30: 12,299
• Oct. 31: 11,389
• Nov. 1: 15,986
• Nov. 2: 14,012

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 total, 155,326 people cast their vote during the early voting period this year. That's 28,050 more votes than in 2020. In Forsyth County, 127,276 people cast their votes during the early voting period in 2020.

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: 12,508
• Oct. 19: 8,242
• Oct. 20: 4,284
• Oct. 21: 12,013
• Oct. 22: 11,538
• Oct. 23: 10,684
• Oct. 24: 10,103
• Oct. 25: 10,111
• Oct. 26: 6,201
• Oct. 27: 3,312
• Oct. 28: 9,375
• Oct. 29: 8,660
• Oct. 30: 8,367
• Oct. 31: 7,735
• Nov. 1: 10,689
• Nov. 2: 8,695

In total, 155,326 people cast their vote during the early voting period this year. That's 28,050 more votes than in 2020.

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.

Who is voting? What does it mean?

According to the state data, Democrats make up the largest percentage of ballots cast thus far in NC. More than 32.4 percent of votes were by Democratic voters; 33.3 percent were by Republicans and 33.6 percent were by unaffiliated voters.

​​Women are also leading the pack with more than 59 percent of the votes compared to 55 percent male.

White voters make up more than 61 percent of those who cast their ballots while Black voters make up 17.8 percent; 12.9 percent is categorized as "other."

More than 59 percent are not Hispanic while 2.8 percent are Hispanic. More than 27 percent were noted as "undesignated."