About 2.8 million North Carolinians voted before Election Day, a record for a midterm and about 36% of registered voters, NC Newsline and WUNC report. More than 2.7 million voted in person, up from about 2 million in 2022. Saturday, the last day, was the busiest, with about 249,000 voters.
By party registration, 38% of early voters are registered Democrats, 35% unaffiliated and 26% Republicans. In the final four days, unaffiliated voters outnumbered both Democrats and Republicans. Catawba College political scientist Michael Bitzer called the rise of the early unaffiliated voter "pretty remarkable."
At the top of the ballot, Democrat Roy Cooper faces Republican Michael Whatley for the open Senate seat. A state Supreme Court seat (Justice Anita Earls against former Republican legislator Sarah Stevens) and three constitutional amendments, including one on voter ID, are also on every ballot. Polls are open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Our read: The 26% Republican share looks grim for the GOP, but it's a turnout-timing number, not a vote count. North Carolina Republicans have increasingly shifted to voting on Election Day, and they usually outvote Democrats today. The real swing group is the unaffiliated bloc, now more than a third of the early vote, and nobody knows how it split. Kalshi traders have Cooper at about 97%, so the market has already made up its mind; today's turnout decides whether the margin is close.
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