[Election 2024] SoDu Snapshot: Early Voting Exceeds 2020 Numbers

[Election 2024] SoDu Snapshot: Early Voting Exceeds 2020 Numbers

Nearly 58% of Durham’s 251,785 eligible voters cast ballots during the early voting period, which ended on Nov. 2, exceeding early participation in the 2020 general election.

Here’s a quick snapshot of statistics related to early voting, according to the Durham County Board of Elections:

  • Of the 145,794 early voting ballots cast, 126,348 (almost 87%) were by voters 26 and older.
  • 128,224 were either Democrats or unaffiliated. Only 13,811 Republicans participated in early voting in Durham.
  • More than half (52%) were women. Nearly 38% were men. About 9.7% were undesignated gender.
  • 75,608 early voters were white; 41,797 were Black, 14,126 had undesignated race, and Asians cast 4,762 early ballots.
  • The most ballots – 14,704 – were cast at Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in South Durham, followed closely by the Karsh Alumni Center at Duke University, which saw 13,664 ballots cast.
  • More than 85,000 ballots were cast in Durham City Council wards 2 and 3, which include much of South Durham.
  • Precincts most represented by voters in early voting this year: 30-2 (based at Southern School of Energy and Sustainability on Clayton Road), 32 (based at Neal Middle School on Baptist Road), 44 (based at North Regional Library on Milton Road), and 54 (based at South Regional Library on Alston Avenue).

Statewide, as of Sunday morning, more than 4.4 million voters had cast early ballots – 57% of the state’s 7.8 million registered voters, about on par with the local percentage of early voters in Durham.

Worth noting: Despite impacts from Hurricane Helene, voters in 25 western North Carolina counties outpaced the rest of the state in voter turnout, according to the N.C. State Board of Elections.

According to state statistics, Durham’s early voting was up from 48.1% in 2020. Orange County saw 60.1% turnout in early voting, up from 45% in 2020. Wake County saw 54.3% early voting turnout, compared to 46.9% in 2020.

“I am proud of all of our 100 county boards of elections and the thousands of election workers who are making this happen in their communities,” said Karen Brinson Bell, the NCSBE executive director, according to a news release. “And I am especially proud of the workers and voters of Western North Carolina. You are an inspiration to us all.”

If you missed early voting, Tuesday, Nov. 5 is your last chance to participate in the 2024 election. Polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. If you’re in line at 7:30, you’ll still get to cast your ballot, officials said.