RALEIGH, N.C. — The early voting window for North Carolina’s midterm election shut Saturday afternoon, and anyone who has not yet voted now has one chance left: Election Day on Tuesday.
Turnout ran ahead of the last midterm. More than 2 million North Carolinians had voted by Friday, a figure equal to a bit more than 23% of statewide turnout and ahead of the early vote at the same stage four years ago.
State election officials pointed to a familiar rhythm, with crowds building at the start and again at the close of the early period. Compared with 2020, early voting is up 36%, while mail-in absentee voting has dropped as voters shift how they cast ballots. A growing state population is part of the reason the totals keep climbing.
Voters around the state named everyday costs as the reason they turned out, from grocery bills and gas prices to taxes, Medicare and health care.
The top of the ballot is the open U.S. Senate seat left by Thom Tillis, where former Gov. Roy Cooper, the Democratic nominee, faces the Republican nominee, a former Republican National Committee chairman. Every voter will also see three proposed amendments to the state constitution: one extending photo ID rules to all voters, including those who vote by mail; one capping the state income tax rate at 3.5%; and one that would make local governments live within limits when raising property taxes.
Unlike the early period, Tuesday offers no same-day registration, so only voters already on the rolls can cast a ballot. Each voter is assigned a precinct based on home address and must vote there, not at any open site.
Tuesday’s hours run from 6:30 in the morning until 7:30 at night. An acceptable photo ID is required at the check-in table, and the North Carolina State Board of Elections posts precinct lookups and the list of accepted IDs online.
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