---
title: "North Carolina Early Voting Passes 1.5 Million Ballots"
url: https://www.hereraleigh.com/2026/10/26/nc-early-voting-passes-1-5-million-ballots/
date: 2026-10-26T08:37:47-04:00
modified: 2026-10-26T08:37:47-04:00
author: "HERE City State Desk"
categories: ["Politics"]
site: "HERE Raleigh"
attribution: "HERE Raleigh"
---

# North Carolina Early Voting Passes 1.5 Million Ballots

> RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina voters have already turned in more than 1.5 million ballots for the Nov. 3 general election, with a week of in-person early voting still to go. State Board of Elections figures through Saturday, Oct. 24, put the total at 1,544,673 ballots. That is close to one in five of the

*Source: [HERE Raleigh](https://www.hereraleigh.com/2026/10/26/nc-early-voting-passes-1-5-million-ballots/) — October 26, 2026 by HERE City State Desk*

*From the HERE City State Desk*

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina voters have already turned in more than 1.5 million ballots for the Nov. 3 general election, with a week of in-person early voting still to go.

State Board of Elections figures through Saturday, Oct. 24, put the total at 1,544,673 ballots. That is close to one in five of the roughly 7.9 million people eligible to vote in the state.

Nearly all of that turnout has come in person. About 1.48 million ballots were cast at early voting sites, with the rest arriving by mail. At the same point in the 2022 midterm, early ballots had only just passed 1 million.

Registered Democrats lead the count so far with more than 640,000 ballots, compared with nearly 368,000 from registered Republicans. Unaffiliated voters make up more than 40% of the state’s registered voters, about 3.17 million people. Women have cast close to 820,000 ballots and men more than 640,000.

Mecklenburg County, the state’s largest, had logged more than 152,000 in-person early votes by Saturday.

Early voting opened Thursday, Oct. 15, and ends at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31. During that window, voters can use any early voting site in their home county, and people who are not yet registered can sign up and vote at the same visit through same-day registration. That option is not available to most voters on Election Day, when everyone must go to their assigned precinct.

Voters who have moved within their county or changed their name can also fix that record while checking in at an early voting site, which spares them a provisional ballot later. Photo ID is required at the polls under state law, and the elections board lists the accepted forms of identification on its website.

County schedules and site lists are posted by the State Board of Elections, which also updates its ballots-cast totals daily.