[Election 2024] SoDu Snapshot: North Carolina's Unaffiliated Voters Could Be Major Force

Here’s a quick snapshot of early voting in Durham after nearly a week:

• 69,665 votes cast in Durham by Wednesday, Oct. 24.
• Of those, more than 60% were voters who were at least 41.
• 58% of early voters thus far are Democrats. About 31% are unaffiliated. And 9% are Republicans.
• More than 53% of early voters in Durham are women and 56% are white. Nearly 29% are Black.
• The most votes so far – 7,299 – have been cast at Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Statewide, more than 2 million people have cast ballots – most of them in-person – out of nearly 7.8 million eligible voters.

Across North Carolina, Republican ballots lead Democrats by an exceedingly slim margin – 686,628 for Republicans compared to 683,265 for Democrats, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

We can’t know for certain that all Democrats voted for Kamala Harris or that Republicans absolutely backed Donald Trump, but it would appear that – barring significant crossing of party lines by voters – the neck-and-neck race continues between the presidential candidates.

However, the real question mark in the early voting mix would be the 628,183 unaffiliated voters. If they split relatively even between Harris and Trump, we could be facing a real nailbiter. On the other hand, if the trend continues, they could also break heavily in favor of one or the other, providing a resounding victory.

Still need to vote? The Durham County Board of Elections provides an online tracker that offers a decent estimate of how long you can expect to stand in line to fill out both sides of your ballot.