More than 4 million cast early votes in NC, Georgia

More than 4 million people in North Carolina and Georgia have cast their ballots early, surpassing records in the critical battleground states.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections said as of Wednesday, more than 2.01 million voters had cast ballots in the 2024 general election.

Just days earlier, the board announced it surpassed the 1 million ballot mark.

On the first day of early voting, which began Oct. 17, the board said North Carolinians turned out in record-breaking numbers; polling sites statewide accepted 353,166 ballots on the first day, topping the record set in the 2020 election.

Early voting in Georgia also kicked off with record-breaking numbers.

As of Thursday morning, more than 2.1 million Georgia voters had cast their ballots, which is 30 percent of the state’s active voters, the Georgia secretary of state’s office reported.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) gave an update on election security, noting the state removed 20 noncitizens from its voter rolls, Atlanta News First reported.

Raffensperger said he predicts the state will hit just shy of 4 million early voters by the time the early voting period ends.

More than 300,000 ballots were cast in Georgia on the first day of early voting last week, shattering records. On Friday, turnout crossed 1 million ballots, or roughly 14 percent of active voters in the state.

Hurricane Helene hit both Georgia and North Carolina, threatening to disrupt the electoral process. Election workers have been working in overdrive to assure voters their ballots will be counted.

The record turnout comes after the 2020 pandemic in the last general election forced many people to opt for mail-in voting. It grew in popularity, and both presidential candidates have encouraged their supporters to vote early this cycle.