Nearly half of NC's registered voters have cast a ballot

Nearly half of all registered voters in North Carolina have cast a ballot in the 2024 general election already, according to a Thursday update from the state.

Of the roughly 7.82 million registered voters in the state, about 3.62 million have voted, in a tally that includes votes through Wednesday.

North Carolinians are casting their ballots in person at early-voting locations at a rate that far outpaces the rate at which people are voting absentee: Approximately 3.43 million have voted in person, while 191,077 voters have cast their ballots by mail.

Compared to data from 2020 at the same point — five days before Election Day — 2024 is experiencing a slight uptick in in-person early voting but a marked drop in absentee ballots counted. Both rates have gone up since 2016.

At this point in 2020, approximately 3.9 million voters had cast ballots, with 3.03 million casting ballots at in-person early voting locations and 864,929 voters casting ballots absentee.

At this point in 2016, approximately 2.35 million voters had voted early, with about 2.22 million in person at early voting locations and 132,328 absentee ballots.

So far this year, Republican voters have cast more votes than Democrats or unaffiliated voters. Republicans make up 29.89 percent of the state’s registered voters; 52.63 percent of them have already cast votes, making up 33.97 percent of total votes cast.

Democrats make up 31.28 percent of the state’s voters; 48.38 percent of them have voted, accounting for 32.68 percent of the votes cast.

Unaffiliated voters are the state's largest bloc of registered voters, at 37.8 percent. Those voters lag in votes cast, at 40.09 percent, making up 32.73 percent of total votes cast.